Sunday, December 29, 2019

Sermon for Christmas 1: "Ensuring Our Redemption" (Matthew 2:13-23)

 


Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

[Intro]

 

During the seasons of Advent and Christmas, nativity scenes are common place outside Christian Churches throughout the world. In fact, we have a nativity scene right outside First Lutheran’s main entrance.

 

With each nativity scene, we remember how our Savior came into the world as a humble baby.

 

But you may have noticed that in the past few years some churches have added extra elements to their nativity scenes.

 

In my old home state of Indiana, Christ Church Cathedral – an Episcopal Church in Indianapolis – put the Holy Family behind a chain link fence[1]. The same is true at Fellowship Congregational Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma[2].

 

Claremont United Methodist Church in southern California separated the Holy Family in separate chain link cages and topped each cage with razor wire[3].

 

Now, you may think, “Maybe they have crime problems?” But, that is not the case here.

 

The pastor at Fellowship Congregational Church in Tulsa said, “What if Egypt had the same policies that we have now? Would [Joseph, Mary and Jesus] have been turned away? Would they have been separated?”[4]

 

Well, we don’t know all the details on the journey of Joseph, Mary and Jesus to Egypt. All we know is what Scripture tells us of the angel telling Joseph: “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him” (Matthew 2:13b).

 

And so Joseph did as the angel said and departed to Egypt.

 

For those churches proposing changes to immigration policies based on our Gospel text this morning, they are picking and choosing Scripture to fit their own agenda. In doing so, they forget what this text is truly about! Our text is about ensuring yours and mine redemption! This is not a proof text on immigration policies. In fact, if we want to talk proof texts, the proof text is that Jesus has fulfilled the prophecy found in Hosea 11:1: “Out of Egypt I called my son” (Matthew 2:15b).

 

[From Joy to Sorrow]

 

As I just mentioned, our text is about ensuring our redemption. But, how this is done in our reading is shocking, especially during this season of Christmas.

 

Just days ago, we were singing “Joy to the World” and now on this fifth day of Christmas we hear of “weeping and loud lamentation” (Matthew 2:18).

 

So, how did we get to this point? Well, the wise men visited King Herod and Herod didn’t like the idea of another who would threaten his power. At first it appeared that Herod would welcome the child, but in his heart, he wanted this child eliminated. So, Herod sent off the wise men to find the child and he waited for them to return.

 

But the wise men never returned to Herod. Instead, after being warned in a dream, the wise men departed to their own country by another way.

 

Now, Herod had waited some time for the wise men to return. But then it dawned on him that they were not coming back, because more than enough time had elapsed for them to travel the few miles to Bethlehem, find the child, and come back.

 

Then in his rage, he gave the order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and younger. From his previous conversation with the wise men, he calculated that the boy could not be more than two years old. So, he believed that this boy would be among the victims in the slaughter of the innocent boys.


But, evil kings will have no power over this Child! Herod plots and acts in vain. Ironically, even his madness serves the fulfillment of Scripture by Jesus for “Out of Egypt I called my Son” (Matthew 2:15b).

 

Sadly, it wasn’t as happy for those who remained in Bethlehem with infant boys. But, even in the sadness, another prophecy was fulfilled of the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they were no more” (Matthew 2:18).

 

[The ‘Holy Innocents’]

 

So, what can we say about these “Holy Innocents”? Should they be regarded as martyrs?

 

From one perspective, the answer would be ‘no’, since we normally think of martyrs as those who have been killed because they confess faith in Christ, and that is not why Herod slew the children of Bethlehem.

 

Rather, Herod killed them because he feared one of them might be the Christ.

 

So, the “Holy Innocents” of Bethlehem do occupy a unique place in Christian history, because of what God was doing in Jesus at that unique time and place.

 

God was at work and was even able to take up human evil and sin and cause it to be known as part of the Scriptural plan that was fulfilled by the Christ Child. You see, the babes of Bethlehem would not have been slaughtered if the Christ had not been born among them. In that sense, then, they did die for the sake of Christ.

 

Their deaths on account of Christ foreshadowed the martyrdom of those who would bear Christ’s name.

 

But, we may ask this question: “Why did God allow the massacre of these children?” We don’t know. Scripture only tells us that a prophecy was fulfilled. There are just some things that we will never know.

 

However, Martin Luther has his opinion on why the “Holy Innocents” died. He wrote in a sermon the following:

 

“To this day it happens that when tyrants rage against the Gospel, they do no more than blow into the ashes. Then the fire becomes greater, and the ashes fly into their eyes. This is the success which their tyranny is to meet. When they shed innocent blood, this blood of the Christians is to act as a fertilizer on the field, making it rich and productive. For through persecution Christendom grows; conversely, Christians become lazy and lax when conditions are peaceful and quiet.”[5]

 

Luther believed that through the death of the “Holy Innocents” and other martyrs, the Christian Church grew. He believed that through the evil, God made the good.

 

[Redemption]

 

Eventually, Herod died, and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go back to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead” (Matthew 2:20). Immediately, the Holy Family traveled back to Israel, but instead of going back to Bethlehem, the Holy Family traveled to Nazareth.

 

Now, Nazareth was a small, hidden-away town. It was never mentioned in Old Testament Scripture or Jewish literature. Nazareth was obscure and this town fit well with what God the Father had in mind for the Messiah. After all, God had the prophets point plainly to the Messiah’s obscure and unlikely-looking beginnings. Isaiah even spoke of the Messiah as the one who will arise out of darkness (Isaiah 9:2).

 

So, when we hear: “He shall be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:23b), the prophecy fulfilled is the Christ’s obscure beginning. He wasn’t from the big city of Jerusalem, but He is instead from the forgotten town of Nazareth.

 

Remember Nathanael who asked, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46)

 

Yes, much good has come from Nazareth and from Bethlehem before it. For, this is where Jesus began His ministry. And, Bethlehem is where God the Father revealed His Son – the Promised Messiah – “when the fullness of time had come… to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4, 5).

This is what our Gospel reading is all about! Our text is about ensuring our redemption!

 

You see, God the Father kept His only beloved Son safe as a child so that when the time was ready, Jesus would go on to work out the final, full deliverance of all mankind lying in the shackles of sin.

 

For, we all deserve eternal death, hell and damnation for all of our sins against God in thought, word and deed. We replace the one true God with false gods, which only give temporary relief. We need saving!

 

This is why the Son of God became like us. This is why God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, so that we would be saved.

 

Some thirty years later, through His atoning death upon the cross and His resurrection from the dead, Jesus redeemed all of mankind, so that everyone by grace through faith in Christ alone would be no longer a slave to sin, but a son – an heir through God receiving forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation.

 

Through Christ alone, we are ensured of our redemption! Amen.

 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Sermon for Advent 1: "Without Warning" (Matthew 24:36-44)

 


Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

[Intro]

 

Happy New Year! Today we enter Advent, which marks the beginning of a new Church Year. During the season of Advent, we are directed to the coming of Christ. For us, we are preparing for the coming of the Kingdom of God.

 

Today’s Gospel lesson prepares us for the day when our Lord will judge the living and the dead. Our reading also shows us that the world appears to be going on in a completely normal fashion for both Christians and unbelievers. Everything seems the same; there is eating and drinking, marriage ceremonies, men and women at work, and there seems to be no difference, until suddenly – without warning – there is a separation on the Day of Judgment. But, there was a difference. Some were watching and preparing for the Kingdom of God; others were not.

 

[USS Stark]

 

On May 17, 1987, an Iraqi F-1 Mirage aircraft fired two Exocet missiles at the Navy frigate USS Stark, which was patrolling in the Persian Gulf.

 

The USS Stark was equipped with radar systems to detect such missiles in the air. In the nerve center of the ship was the electronic warfare operator, a man who monitored these systems. Now, if a missile was fired at the ship, he would be warned in two ways: an audible alarm would sound and a visual symbol would appear on the radar screen.

 

Nevertheless, without warning the Exocet missiles slammed into the side of the USS Stark just above the waterline, tearing a ten-foot hole in the ship and killing 37 American sailors.

 

To learn what went wrong, the House Armed Services Committee launched an official investigation.


After visiting the ship and talking to the surviving crew, they reported that the tragedy had likely not resulted from equipment failure. Rather, the cause was human error or omission on part of several people. One of those people was the electronic warfare operator in the ship’s nerve center.

 

The report said: “The operator indicated that he had turned off the audible alarm feature because too many signals were being received that were setting off the alarm, requiring actions that distracted him from performing other signal analysis.”

 

Then with the audible alarm off, according to the investigators, he may have been distracted at the time when the visual signals appeared on the radar screen.

 

This ship was equipped to be ready for anything, but it was human error and omission that caused the failure. Apparently, the many who allowed the audible alarm to be turned off thought that no attack would ever happen to the ship. With many warnings available to protect them, out of their own convenience, they ended up being without any warning.

 

Now, what about us here today? How prepared are we for the Kingdom of God when Christ comes descending from the clouds with power and great glory?

 

[The Advents]

 

First off, how do we recognize God’s Kingdom? Well, the Kingdom of God comes in two ways. First, God’s Kingdom comes to us now, by grace. Then, on the Last Day, God’s Kingdom will come with power, for judgment. These are two of the three “advents” that we think about during this season.

 

The first advent was when Christ was born in Bethlehem. We can celebrate that, but that is in the past. We can’t experience or prepare for it.

 

However, the advent or coming of Christ is happening to us now when we hear God’s Word, repent, and receive His grace. And lastly, there is Christ’s final advent, when He comes in judgment.

 

[The Days of Noah]

 

This morning Jesus tells us about His final advent – His second coming. During His explanation, Jesus tells us about the days of Noah. Now, why is Jesus telling us about Noah? Well, He is using that event to teach us that like the flood, He will come without warning.

 

Now, from the Book of Genesis, we learn much about Noah and how the world was like during his time. We learn that Noah was a righteous man and that he walked with God. But, all around Noah was corruption and wickedness.

 

You see, outside of Noah’s family, the rest of society had forgotten about God, so they just went on with their lives thinking that nothing bad could ever happen to them. They were unprepared and preoccupied with the things of this world.

 

What about you? Are you preoccupied with the things of this world?

 

Oh how easily we get caught up with the things of this world: wealth, riches, prestige, power, sports, television shows, fishing, love of self – and the list goes on.

 

As we learned from the great flood, all it took was an instant. Everything the people had was swept away – themselves and their possessions. They had no time for preparation. No time for repentance. They had no time for anything.

 

Likewise, we do not know when our last hour would come. On the Day of Judgement, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:40-42).

 

These activities represent all our cares and pursuits: eating and drinking stands for the pleasures of life; marriage stands for our relationships with others; and buying, selling, planting, and building indicate our possessions.

 

You see, pleasures, people, and possessions, given to us by God can end up driving us away from God. Thus we must beware that these do not distract us from God’s Kingdom, but instead serve to prepare us for the Lord’s coming.

 

[Grace in our midst]

 

So, how would the Lord have us prepare for this Advent?

 

We prepare as we live in hopeful expectation “for salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11b). So, we cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light as we stay awake for the coming of the Lord. We hear and read God’s Word and come to Him in prayer, seeking first and only His Kingdom and His righteousness.

 

As Christians, we live in hopeful expectation and long for the return of Christ at an hour we do not expect. But, we don’t have to wait for His presence. The Kingdom of God is even now in our midst. A foretaste of the Kingdom comes to us at each Divine Service.

 

Each time we meet on Sunday mornings, we remember what Christ alone has done for us. He came in the flesh for us to give everyone who trusts in Him as Lord: forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation. As Emmanuel – God with us – Jesus died to the punishment that we deserve and rose to life, so we would be restored to God’s Kingdom.

 

Christ alone fulfilled the Law for us, He died for us, He rose for us, and He ascended into heaven for us.

 

By grace through faith in Christ alone, sin, death and Satan have no power over us. So, through Christ alone, we have forgiveness, life and salvation!

 

For all of us in Christ, we have nothing to worry about for when Christ returns. Now, we may not know at what hour the Son of Man is coming, but we are ready. We are ready because we become better prepared each week as we repent of our sins and receive God’s forgiveness in Word and Sacrament. You see, it is the Triune God who makes us ready. And, today and each Lord’s Day, His Kingdom of grace comes to us. Amen.

 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

 

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T