Advent 4 - Rorate Coeli - 12-21-08

Advent 4
One Year Series
Rorate Coeli

Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 21, 2008)

“The Witness”

Readings:
Psalm 111
Dt. 18:15-19
Philippians 4:4-7
John 1:19-28

Sermon Form: Deductive

+INI+

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

The text for today is as recorded in the Gospel Lesson from the 1st chapter of St. John, especially the following verses.

John 1:19-28 (ESV)

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

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

The trial had begun, the testimony of John the Baptist was now being taken by the priests and Levites. As a good witness John knows that he has sworn to confess the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And in this case, John, “came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.”(Jn. 1:7) So they asked John, “Who are you?”(v.19) John told the truth, “He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’”(v. 20) That was not good enough, so more questions followed. John told them he was not Elijah, and that he was not a prophet. So they cut to the chase and they asked him, “Who are you?”(v. 22) And John said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”(v. 23) So they continued by asking him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” [and] John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know”(v. 25-26)

“The Jews had a certain attachment to John. They deemed it unfitting that he be held as [lowly] less as Christ, because of the many proofs of John’s excellence, chief of which was his illustrious origin, for [John the Baptist] he was a son of a Prince of the priests….[and] In Christ was seen the opposite: His lowly birth, with which they reproached Him, saying, “Is this not the son of the carpenter?”(Chrysostom)

Yet John remained a good witness. He refused to point to himself, instead he pointed to the one to come. For John the Baptist did cry in the wilderness, but the water in his tears was just plain water. John admits it for he knows that he does not have the authority of the one to come. But Christ had “all authority in heaven and on earth.”(Mt. 28:18) and so the water which flowed from His side on the cross was water combined with God’s Word.

The interrogating priests and the Levites see John baptizing and they expect the Christ. But, this witness John says he is not the Christ and he says so. Instead John points them to another, one who is far greater than he. So what is the greatness of the one to come?

For over fifteen centuries the church has the witness of “The Great “O” Antiphons” which are prayers which are traditionally spoken in the seven days prior to Christmas. Each of these prayers witness to the one who far greater than us, to what God has done for us. Like the witness of John the Baptist these prayers point us to the preparation for the one to come, and they lead us from this time of expectations to the time of the incarnation. Many of you may be familiar with them as they are reflected in the verses of the hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”(LSB #357) but I will share them with you now as well...

O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things: Come and teach us the way of prudence.

We witness the Wisdom of God in all that He has created, ordered, and prepared. God sent His Son and His way of prudence is the cross, for there in His death and resurrection He prepares for His path to eternal life.

O Adonai and ruler of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the burning bush and gave him the Law on Sinai; Come with outstretched arm and redeem us.

We witness God speaking His Law to man and man but we would not hear it. God’s Son prepares the way as stretches out His arms and He redeems us.

O Root of Jesse, standing as an ensign before the people, before whom all kings are mute, to whom the nations will do homage: Come quickly to deliver us.

We witness the King of kings, the Lord of lords, in our baptism He has prepared us for His return.

O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open: Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death.

We witness the Son who holds the key to heaven, He prepares us so that we no longer fear the shadow of death.

O Dayspring, splendor of light everlasting: Come and enlighten those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.

We witness Christ who is the way and the truth and the life. His sacrifice prepares us to leave the shadows of this world and to come into His everlasting light.

O King of the nations, the ruler they long for, the cornerstone uniting all people: Come and save us all, who You formed out of clay.

We witness the Christ who unites His people, He prepares us by saving us all from our sins.

O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior: Come and save us, O Lord our God.

We witness the anointed One who comes as Savior of the Nations. He prepares as He is our Lord who is seated at the right hand of God the Father.

Isaiah prophesied and witnessed to the coming glory of God’s Messiah, and that the same Messiah would come again in glory to save His people. But Isaiah was not the Messiah. John the Baptist cried in the wilderness, and prepared the way of the Lord. But, did not claim to be the Messiah. Christ came into the world and was made man. Christ was, Christ is, Christ will ever be the Messiah, Emmanuel, God with us. For many came before Him to give witness to all that He would do. And Christ has ascended into heaven and He will come again for you.

This final day of Advent we stand in preparation for Christ to return. And as we wait we sing together the refrain, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear.”(LSB 357) These next few days in the season of Christmas ahead we will witness the celebration of the birth of Christ, Emmanuel, God with us. That Christ child has come, and that savior will return for us, so you may eternally, "Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel! " Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

AMEN
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Advent 3 - Midweek - 12-17-2008

Advent 3, Midweek
One Year Lectionary,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 17, 2007)

“The Mountain of reunion”

Isaiah 66:18-23
John 12:25-36

+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 Reading of Isaiah the 66th chapter, especially the following verses.

Isaiah 66:18-23 (ESV)

18 “For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations. 20 And they shall bring all your brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for Levites, says the Lord. 22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your offspring and your name remain. 23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.

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

In our final Advent Midweek service we hear the prophecy of Isaiah speak of a great reunion on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. As we have said in previous weeks, Isaiah offers a vision into the future which is staggeringly accurate. For Isaiah’s prophecies span beyond his own life to nearly 700 years later to the first coming of Christ and then far into the future to the second coming of Jesus Christ. Here in our reading from Isaiah tonight we hear of people coming from many countries, far off islands, a reuniting of all the peoples from all over the world.

Can you imagine a reunion of all the people from the entire world and gathering them in one place. What would that reunion look like? Would that reunion appear like some sort of whimsical old coca-cola commercial from the 70’s where everyone gathered together there on a bright and sunny perfect mountain, singing in perfect harmony? Or would it be more like trying to gather hundreds of people around that famous negotiating table from the Vietnam War? If you don’t remember that table, it was a table over which warring leaders could not agree. But it was not about war terms they couldn’t agree about the physical shape of table. Some at those peace talks wanted a square table, others wanted a rectangle, still others wanted a round table. Many months passed by, many people died on the battlefield, while V.I.P. leaders struggled to come to an agreement on a table. Ultimately a reunion for peace was stalled because they couldn’t agree regarding which shape of table should be used.

If we were called to attend a great reunion of all the peoples in our world today, upon receiving our invitation our first reaction would probably be sort of negativity with a twisted tinge of sarcasm. For there is no way we could ever consider that it would be physically or humanly possible for all the world’s different countries, all the different peoples, to come together in one place. How in the world would the people of Israel come together on one mountain with the people of Iran? How in the world would the people of China sit down next to people of Taiwan? How could all the people from everywhere in the world come together when there is so much division in the world? And if international division is not enough, what about the division in our own countries. Or what about the divisions in our own families? We all have that special brother, sister, cousin, or crazy uncle that we all try to avoid at our own family reunions. And what of those people in our own church who we try to avoid too. How could a reunion of such magnitude ever happen when it seems that there is always some sort of division?

Yet the prophecy was written, Isaiah proclaimed of that great future reunion of, “all your brothers, from all the nations, to [God’s]holy mountain in Jerusalem.”(v. 20) for He said, “they shall come and shall see my glory. I will set a sign among them.”(v. 18-19) So this reunion does not happen because of the motivation of man, this great reunion will occur because of God’s actions.

Yes you will come to see God’s glory, for the time is now coming to gather at His holy mountain. Just as Isaiah prophesied, God’s did set His sign before His people when, “an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the Name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet [Isaiah]: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” (Mt. 1:20-23) Yet even when the glory of God was united in flesh when Christ came into this world, the world still did know Him. The whole world did not rush to gather for a great reunion with their long prophesied savior. Man could not agree on who He was and even in the face of His great miracles they would not see His glory. So instead of a glorious reunion, sinful man reacted to God’s sign by building a cross, and then around that cross mankind gathered to return signs of insults. Those signs were real too, they were signs of human sin and doubt were united with Christ on that cross.

Though man was blinded by sin, that God-man Jesus Christ, hung upon that cross so that the union of humanity with God would be restored and that indeed was a mountain of reunion. For left to the designs of man we see that we still do not agree with other nations, or peoples, or even our own families. But God does not leave salvation to the design of man, rather God in the death and resurrection of Christ restores humanity.

God’s restoration of humanity would not gather the world together in the physical city of the worldly Jerusalem. Rather God lovingly brings His people to Him in a great reunion where there will be a new heavens and the new earth in His city of the New Jerusalem.

And as we await this heavenly reunion, God gives to you now, this very night, a foretaste of that reunion to come. For this day you are united with Him when you are given Christ’s true body and true blood in Holy Communion. And what of that great reunion to come? All who believe and have been baptized will come together on that reunion on His holy mountain. For in your baptism you were given a sign too, the sign of the cross, which marks you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.

God said through the prophet Isaiah, “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before me, [says the Lord], so shall your offspring and your name remain. 23 From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, declares the Lord.”(Is. 66:22-23) Oh, what a glorius reunion it shall be as we are reunited in eternal worship on that day of Christ’s return when He gathers us to His everlasting Mountain of reunion.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

AMEN
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Advent 3 - Guadete - 12-14-08

The Church Season of Advent
Advent 3 – Gaudete
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI December 14, 2008

“A reed shaken by the wind”

Readings:
Is. 40:1–11
Psalm 85
1 Cor. 4:1-5
Matthew 11:2-11

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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’s message is as recorded in the Gospel lesson from the 11th chapter of St. Matthew, especially the following verses

Matthew 11:2-11 (NASB95)

2 Now when John, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?” 4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 “And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.” 7 As these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 “But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ palaces! 9 “But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way before You.’ 11 “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

So Far the Text

Jesus asks in our Gospel lesson if the people went out into the wilderness to see if John were like a reed shaken by the wind. Yet John, didn't bend to the prevailing breezes of his day in order to become more popular and to be well liked. John just preached the truth which God had given him to preach. But telling the truth does not always win friends, and when proclaiming the Lord it does include making enemies. John is calling it like he sees it and he does not live in luxury, but in obscurity. John wore the rough clothing of a camel skins, ate locusts and wild honey while calling out, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" That's how he prepared the way of the Lord Jesus, that is how he would make paths straight. He told people the truth about their sin and called them to turn from it. He did not mix words, nor was he mild mannered about his approach. John spoke in no uncertain terms to the people who came out to see him. He called them you, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father." And we are the vipers of today who still smile at each other when face to face, yet we strike with sharp fangs when we think no one is paying attention or listening. John the Baptist would not have been the pastor we would want or call to encourage new membership in our church, but John knew that people had to be confronted about the reality of their bondage to sin and their fallen condition. And if these people were looking to their good deeds of the past, present, and future, then they would not be ready for the One who was to come. John knew the Law is preached to sinners who are secure with themselves, the ones that know that they are better than everyone else. These people are the ones who are not yet ready for the Gospel, we deny we have met those people yet they are us.

We constantly hear the message of John, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In hearing his words he still calls out to us today to turn away from our sin, to stop justifying it and to stop making excuses for it. We are helpless before God, despite our best efforts, yet we refuse to acknowledge it. We do so when we say, “don’t look at me I’m no sinner”, if those words are spoken or even thought then we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Our only hope is in this truth: Though the things of this world grow and die, “the grass withers and the flowers fades,” the only constant is, "the Word of our God endures forever."(Is. 40:8) and that Word is Jesus Christ.

This season of Advent we look forward to the Word, the Son of God, who has come into this world for us and who will return for us. Though Jesus was without sin, He took the curse of our sin into His own body and then He broke the curse, putting it to death on the cross. Even though the power of sin would drag us down to hell, the sin that condemns us, was completely destroyed and abolished on the cross at Calvary. Now, through faith in Jesus, we are released, we are free, we have been made holy. St. Peter writes, "You have been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever." All who have been baptized into Jesus, the Word made flesh, will live and abide forever in Him. Just as a lily dies in the winter but comes forth to life again from the bulb in the spring, so also you will rise again to an everlasting spring when Jesus returns.

Some may still wonder if John the Baptist was swaying in the wind when he asked if this man Jesus was Christ were the expected One to come, or should we look for someone else. Isn’t this the same John who leapt for joy while in his mother’s womb when Jesus’ mother drew near? How ironic it was that when John could not physically see he believed, but as he aged did something weaken? How could this John not now recognize his own cousin, why would he even have to ask whether Jesus was the promised one? Some may say it was not John who was doubting but it was those who were around him. Whether it was John or his disciples who doubted if Christ was the one, the question was still asked by those weakened in faith by their own sin.

We may wonder why John would do such a thing, why would he or others bend to the pressure of the winds of hot air from the people around him? Yet we, at this very moment ask this same question as we sit here impatiently on earth. Are you really the Christ who is going to save me or should I look for another. Our post-modern world offers us many suggestions which follow the winds which would blow us in many directions yet offer no lasting comfort. It may be in ten easy steps to more riches, or how to win friends and influence people, or it may be the fool hearty theory that there are many religions and many ways to a god. When we succumb to those thoughts we are not only shaken in the wind we gladly travel the twisted winding breezes which flow through this world. A world which seeks not the truth, but rather only defines truth by whatever you say it might be and that is not truth. But if you say to someone that their god is untruth, you will offend them.

But, Jesus says, "Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me." And Jesus says to you, blessed are you who are not scandalized by My suffering on the cross. If we are offended when asked to repent then our indignity has convicted us, we are guilty as charged. The worldly winds have not only blown a sinful breeze to bend the reeds, those same winds bend and break our faith. We have the audacity to deny our sin, and then compound it by daring someone to say what we have done wrong, and whether we say it or think it, it is then that we have deceived ourselves and the truth is not in us.

But blessed are you who are not offended by your need to repent and to trust in Jesus alone to save you. Blessed are you who are just like John the Baptist or his disciples who have been swayed yet would still ultimately cling to and place your hope in Jesus Christ.

We wait here in this place wondering if Christ will ever get here. We are here together in the great Advent of our Lord, anticipating the second coming of Christ. We are here together awaiting the time to celebrate the birth of the Christ child in Bethlehem. While the season of Christ’s birth is near, even more importantly, season of Christ’s return is near. His kingdom draws near to you, because the Christ, the King Himself is at hand. He is here for you today for Jesus Christ gives you His body and blood for you for the forgiveness of sins. Christ has done and will do all these things, He is our only comfort in our times of sorrow, loneliness, or need. And though the things of this world will blow us about and we will be shaken by the winds of our sin, Christ is not shaken, His path has been prepared and it comes straight for you, and one day you will no longer be shaken by the things of this world, for one day He will come again and your path will return straight to Him. AMEN

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

+SDG+

Advent 2 Midweek - 12-10-08

Advent 2, Midweek
One Year Lectionary,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 10, 2007)

“The Mountain of Good News”

Readings:

Isaiah 52:7-10
John 12:26-36

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 Reading of Isaiah the 52nd chapter, especially the following verses.

Isaiah 52:7-10 (NIV)

7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. 9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.

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

In our Advent Midweek services we continue with our theme of coming to the Holy Mountain of Israel through the prophecy of Isaiah. Last week we heard Isaiah speak of the Mountain of Peace. Tonight we hear the prophet Isaiah proclaim of, “The Mountain of Good News” which God proclaims through his lips saying, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace.”(v.7)

A few hundred years after Isaiah, yet still five hundred years before Christ, there is a legend which speaks of a man who ran 150 miles in two days and then right after that it is said he ran another 26 miles. And all that running was supposedly just for the purpose of announcing that the Greek army had obtained victory over the Persians in the battle of Marathon. Upon finishing this long running race, the messenger spoke only one word, "Νενικήκαμεν" meaning, “we have won.” This message inferred that the Greek army had won though the help of their mythical god Pan who instilled an extreme sort of fear, an irrational, blind fear that paralyzed the mind and suspended any sense of judgment. Pan, it sounds a lot like panic doesn’t it? But the bad news is that after this legendary Olympic run to deliver a simple word of good news, the runner immediately dropped stone cold dead right there in his tracks. Not even enough time to climb a podium and receive a gold medal.

The prophecy of Isaiah speaks of another and much different messenger than the one bandied about in the legends of the Greeks. For Isaiah knew that seeing the feet of one lone messenger return from battle would indeed be perceived as a Mountain of Good News. For Israel throughout it’s history had seen more than it’s share of good news and bad news. The Israelites knew what bad news was, they had lived through it for generations. They had experienced hundreds of years of Egyptian slavery and that was bad news. They lived through wars, pestilence, and famine and that was bad news. Serving kings and rulers and an endless string of invading armies who were less than merciful and peaceful to them and all of those thing compounded upon each other was their mountain of bad news.

But God gave the prophet Isaiah the vision to see well beyond his time to a future time when a messenger would stand on the Mountain of Zion He would proclaim the good news that, “Your God reigns!”(v. 7) If one looks out and sees a multitude of beaten and war weary stragglers returning from a battle it can only mean that the army is retreating because it has suffered defeat. But the advent of this lone returning messenger would mean that the war is over and oh how beautiful that sight would be. To see the feet of only one messenger and to hear of his return speaking the good news of peace, good tidings, and salvation. For the proclamation of the word of peace means that the time of threats and the time of war has ended. The lone messenger means that with Him comes good tidings and that in turn will cause all to have great joy. And salvation, well that means that the old evil foe, the oppressor, has been destroyed, broken, and conquered.

But our eyes and ears in the here and now only see mountains of failures in a fallen world which seems to be getting worse every single day. Our hearts and minds are like those of Israelites who witnessed the Roman army as it destroyed the Jerusalem temple and the stones of the city walls lay strewn in ruins. We are daily instilled with the fear of what is to come of our economy, of our jobs, of our savings, and our livelihood, and ultimately we fear what will come of us when we die. Our nightly news and discussion with the people around us instill us with an extreme sort of fear. It is a faithless fear that is irrational, and it is a blind fear that has paralyzed our minds. Our own sin has suspended our sense of judgment. And when we succumb to this fear, we stand with all humanity who throughout the ages who lacked faith and therefore were overcome by sin to induce us to worship the false god of panic.

Repent, for in Isaiah’s vision he “saw the Lord [who would] lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations.”(v.10) That Lord is your Lord Jesus Christ who not only lay bare His holy arms, He lay down His entire body upon the cross to free you from your mountain of sin. And Christ proclaims from the cross that His Word is a mountain of good news to, “all the ends of the earth.”(v.10) In His death and resurrection he gives the good news to all who would believe in Him that they, “will see the salvation of our God.”(v. 8) You who believe and are baptized will “see it with [your] own eyes.”(v.8) You who join in the Holy Supper of our Lord will be freed from your sin, forgiven, renewed, and refreshed by the blood which flows from Christ’s bare arms. And from the ruins of this earthly Jerusalem, the Lord will comfort His people, for He has redeemed you. Do not panic as we await the advent of Christ to “return to [this] Zion”(v. 8) For He will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead. And when He returns, through Gospel of Jesus Christ you will, “Burst into songs of joy together.”(v.9) How beautiful it will be on that day when we see the feet of the one who brings us His good news, who proclaims our peace, and who brings us His good tidings. For Jesus Christ is "Your God who who reigns"(v.7), and you will see Him with your own eyes. Jesus Christ will bring you to the restored city of Jerusalem, to the heavenly Mount Zion and He will give you eternal salvation, and that indeed, is a Mountain of good news. Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

AMEN
+SDG+

In case you were wondering

About the Latin words for the Sundays in Advent....

Advent I
Ad Te Levavi
Psalm 24
Ad te levavi animam meam
Unto thee have I lifted up my soul

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

Advent III
Gaudete
Philemon 4
Gaudete in Domino semper
Rejoice in the Lord always

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

Advent 2 - Populus Sion - 12-07-08

The Church Season of Advent
Advent 2 – Populus Sion
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI December 07, 2008

“That Great and Dreadful Day”

Readings:
Malachi 4:1-6
Psalm 50:1-15
Romans 15:4-13
Luke 21:25-36

+INI+

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

The text for today’s message is as recorded in the Old Testament lesson from the 4th chapter of Malachi, especially the following verses,

Malachi 4:1-6 (NIV)

1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall. 3 Then you will trample down the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I do these things,” says the Lord Almighty. 4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. 5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

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

Years ago, our family was on a camping trip, and our youngest child, who was still a toddler, was strapped into and riding in a stroller. It was one of those theme campground’s which had a cartoon character as their chief icon. While walking around the park, the mascot dressed in a ten foot tall costume came across our paths. Our two older girls thought nothing of it, but when that large mascot leaned way over and stuck his face right down next to the stroller it was a time I will never forget. For I have never in my life seen a child, or any other person for that matter, in so much terror. His body was physically shaking, he was struggling to get away, he was gasping for air, and was literally so terrified he couldn’t even cry. Naturally, we impressed upon this mascot to remove themselves from our son’s presence, and I’ll admit that we probably did that in a less than glowing way. Soon after that mascot left, everything quickly returned normal, no ill effects, no lasting memory of the event, at least for him. But, I don’t think we will ever forget that dreadful day.

Yesterday was a great day celebrating the commemoration of St. Nicholas, the pastor, which is a great day to remember. Not many of us remember that St. Nicholas was a real person and that he was a Christian pastor. Nor do many know that he was involved in a very early church controversy. For it was St. Nicholas who was a delegate to the Council of Nicea in the year 325. And it was St. Nicholas who was one of the authors of the Nicene Creed. That would be the same Nicene Creed we speak together to this very day, the creed which affirms that Jesus Christ is both true God and true man. But there was another man at that council, a man named Arius who denied that Christ was God. And so at that early church council jolly ole St. Nick defended the Christian faith. And they way he did it? Well, he walked right over to Arius and he slapped him in the face. So it was St. Nicholas himself who was the one who became so bitterly angry when someone denied Christ. Ironically the man who it seems we most remember at Christmas is the one who was angry that Christ was being redefined Not really the jolly man we’d like to think he was, although he did give money to the poor. But, he was a pastor who at Nicea defended the faith with all he knew and that is indeed a great time to be remembered.

I am sure that each of you have experienced some great or dreadful days, days that you will never forget. You may think of a day that was so dreadful to you, that it is indelibly etched in your minds. A day that a loved one died, an auto accident, or some other dreadful occurrence which you will never forget. Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a day that has indeed lived on in our memories in infamy. September 11th will be a day that all too many are quickly forgetting. The day that John Kennedy was assassinated is a memory that still lives on for some of us. Yet we have all but forgotten the Alamo, we have forgotten the Maine, and most of us have forgotten the not so long ago, “shot heard round the world.”

But in all these days to be remembered can you think of one that is both a great and dreadful day? Adam and Eve awoke in the Garden on a great day and then they partook of the fruit “from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”(Gen 2:17) And all the great days they had and the great day which they were in became a very dreadful day. For that was the day that they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. And on that day God promised that the seed of Adam and Eve would one day crush the evil serpents head.

And from that day onward the Israelites would experience many dreadful days and many great days looking for that promised one to come. And so He did, Christ came to the river Jordon, to be baptized by the prophet crying in the wilderness, John the Baptist. For John was sent to, “make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”(Lk. 1:17) It was just as the prophet Malachi had said, “5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes”(v. 5)

And what of that day? Well the Almighty Lord has said that on that day, “All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire”(v.1) And when we begin to look around to see who around us will be that burning stubble, we trip over our own arrogance. For our own arrogance makes us holier than thou when we know that we all are evildoers don’t admit it. For in our sin we have forgotten many, many days. We have forgotten that day when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden and that we have inherited their sin. We deny that we have their sin, yet the proof of that sin is our own death. We deny that we have any sin of our own, that we daily sin, yet at the same time our arrogance convinces us that everyone around us is a sinner. We all too quickly forget the days that we say we will never forget. Our sin against our fellow man and against God is just like so many of those historical days that I mentioned. We remember our great days or great moments, but those dreadful moments in our lives we hide away in the shadows hoping that they will fade.

Repent for a great and dreadful day will come. And it will be to unbelievers more than a slap in the face from St. Nicholas. It will more than a day of tremendous terror, a body physically shaking, or struggling to get away, or gasping for air, and on that day there will be cries from the wicked that will not be heard.

But for those who believe and “revere (God’s) Name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings.”(v.2) For Christ is that rising sun from heaven. And it is Christ who has turned the heart of the Father to you His children, and it is Christ who has turned your heart to His father. It is Christ the Son who is righteous, it is He who took our human sins including arrogance to the cross with Him. It is Christ who died and was raised on the third day, and when He rose, His healing grace was yours for free. It is Christ who made you righteous and His forgiveness is always given when you partake of Holy Communion. And those who are baptized have received and revere God’s Name for it was written on their hearts, with the water combined God’s Holy Word. And whether you remember your baptism or not, Christ will always remember, for in it He gave you the promise of many days that you will never forget. For on the day to come when we part from this sometimes dreadful world, Jesus Christ will welcome you to eternal life and that indeed will be a very great day. Amen.

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

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Advent 1 - Midweek - Ad Te Levavi - 12-3-08

Advent 1, Midweek
One Year Lectionary,
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (December 3, 2007)

“The Mountain of Peace”

Readings:
Isaiah 2:1-5
John 1:1-14

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 Old Testament Reading of Isaiah the 2nd chapter, especially the following verses.

Isaiah 2:1-5 (NIV)

1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

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

It is the Church season of Advent, right before Christmas and we are urged by our surroundings and our society to forget the waiting and move on to Christmas. And that is okay, Christmas is a joyful time of the year to celebrate the birth of the Christ child, the babe in Bethlehem who would become the prince of peace. But Advent is also a good time to look forward and to anticipate the coming of that Christ-child, AND a time to anticipate the Christ-man and all that He would do when He came into this world and all that He would do upon His return. And so Advent teaches us that as we wait, we prepare to receive that special Christmas gift of the One who would be the hope and peace for all who are in this world. So Advent is really worth the preparation and the journey. And this is born out in the Advent hymns which we sing, like “Come, thou long expected Jesus, Born to set Thy people free; From our fears and sins release us; Let us find our rest in Thee”(LSB 338:1) or “Prepare the royal highway; The King of kings is near! Let ev’ry hill and valley A level road appear! Then greet the King of Glory Foretold in sacred story; Hosanna to the Lord, For He fulfills God’s Word!”(LSB 343:1)

And our journey during this Advent season will reflect on the Words of God which Christ did fulfill. And the words will be the ones God gave to His prophet Isaiah who spoke of the mountains of God and the path to those sacred mountains paved in prophecy. And so we begin on the mountain of Peace and the description of this mountain which Isaiah calls the “mountain of the lord’s temple.”(v. 2) or “the mountain of the lord”(v.3) While that may seem like two different places, in fact it is one place. For the these two names both refer to the same mountain which is Mt. Zion, and the temple mount in Jerusalem. And from Isaiah’s description this is a mighty place, a place to which many people are drawn and they will come from far and wide to arrive. But what does all this talk of Isaiah have to do Advent or Christmas or even you and me?

Actually, Isaiah’s vision and prophecy was a lot more far-sighted than we could ever imagine for he not only sees past himself, he sees beyond his own time. For he sees the mountain of peace that Jerusalem will one day be and then he looks even farther ahead to what would be at the end of all time. So to that we could say, sarcastically, “Thank you very much Isaiah, you just proved the case against the season of Advent. For, if Isaiah can jump forward more than 600 years to see what would happen in Jerusalem and if he can jump who knows how many more years after that to the end of all time, what’s the harm in jumping over a few weeks of Advent to get to Christmas?”

Well, hold on there for just a second, let’s see what Isaiah is really saying about this Mountain of the Lord and who would be going to that mountain. And that question is quickly answered, for Isaiah says that, “Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’”(v.3) That does sound like words of great optimism and it sounds like Isaiah is placing a lot of hope in that time to come. Really we might even say it sounds like a new era. For Isaiah says that “Many peoples will come” and that would be very unusual for a Jewish prophet to use those kind of words. Because the word he uses here for “peoples” means more than just Jews would be coming to the mountain, it also means from many nations and tribes and that would be very forward looking for a man like Isaiah. And it would also sound quite a bit like the words of Christ as recorded in Matthew, remember He said, “make disciples of all nations”(Mt. 28:19)

And on this mountain of peace, “The law will go out from Zion, the word of the lord from Jerusalem.”(v. 3) Again that would be prophecy which would be fulfilled in Christ for it was He who took all the law upon Himself by His death on the cross and it would be His words proclaimed from the cross that would go out from Jerusalem to make that mountain a place of everlasting peace. For in His death and resurrection Christ set aside the law he being God’s incarnate Word would forever offer a, “peace which surpasses all understanding.” (Philippians 4:7)

Yet we still do not see peace. In fact, we join in proclaiming the lack of peace with one of our very own American heroes who proclaimed, “Peace, Peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun.” and he finished that speech with the familiar words, “Give me liberty or give me death.” (Patrick Henry) Unfortunately for Patrick Henry, he did not live long enough to see the national liberty for which he longed.

However, Isaiah looked forward to all that would be achieved on that Mountain of Peace and the last days. We look back in prophecy fulfilled on that Mountain where Christ’s Death and resurrection sealed that peace and we join Isaiah in looking to Christ’s return in those last days.

And the road to that Mountain of Peace? Well it is not paved by bricks or stone which we put in place, nor by our toil, nor by our sweat, or the heat of the day which we may endure. It is not paved by the works of our hands, rather it is composed of our sins which have been laid down upon the foundation of that road which is blood of Christ. For now “in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace,”(Eph 2:13-14)

And so on that Mountain of Christ’s peace “swords will be beat into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks, and nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”(Is. 2:4) For in Christ’s death, He created an everlasting Mountain of Peace, and so He proclaims; Peace, Peace there will be eternal peace. And that peace He has established for you now in your baptism. And one day you “will walk in the light of the Lord,”(Is. 2:5) when you are “raised above the hills”(v. Is. 2:2) to see Him in the heavenly city of the new Jerusalem and that is truly a Mountain of Peace. Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

AMEN
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