1st Sunday after Christmas, Year B,
Dec
28, 2014, Trinity Lutheran Church, Miles City, MT
Isaiah 61:10- 62:3, Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:22-40
The Lord has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.
Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for
he has done marvelous things!
His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.
The Lord has made known his
salvation;
he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
He has remembered his steadfast love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Make a joyful noise to the Lord,
all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
The right hand
of Almighty God, His all-powerful arm, ready to achieve in time the salvation of our God, is wrapped in swaddling clothes, a
40 day old infant, held in the arms of a faithful old man named Simeon. This tiny but mighty arm of the Lord is also
the Silent Word, the
Merry
Christmas. It is an extra Christmas
blessing to be with you here today, to gather around Christ’s gifts, and to
tell you about the adventure my wife Shelee and I are entering, as I have
accepted a call from the Mission Board to be a Missionary, a Church Planter, in
Seville, Spain.
I pray that
your week has been filled with the Good Tidings of great joy that Christ is
born for you today. I also pray that
your week has been filled with joyful gatherings of family and friends, times
of remembrance of joyful days gone by, and the making of memories for the
future. This is how we best love
Christmas, when it is filled with homecomings, reunions with our loved ones. Shelee and I were particularly blessed in
just this way, as our son Jeremy came to Billings from Fargo, bringing both his
sister Madeline, and his fiancée Teresa.
It was a bit crowded in our temporary apartment home in Billings, but we
had a grand time, a Merry Christmas indeed.
It is, of
course, always a little risky for a preacher to talk about what a great
Christmas he has enjoyed, because some of you may not have experienced the
same. Perhaps your Christmas has not
been quite so fine, because this is the first one spent without someone very special
to you. Or perhaps the hoped for joy of
a family reunion did not materialize. Perhaps
travel plans did not work out, or they did, but tension and anxiety and
simmering conflicts stole away the joy you hoped for. Christmas can be the most wonderful time of
the year, and it can also be the most difficult. The devil works overtime to make fully visible
the sin that infects our world and each one of us, as he seeks to spoil our celebration
Jesus’ birth. I dare say all of us over
the age of 25 and most of us under the age of 25 have experienced our share of
strife and sadness during the season of joy.
I hope this has not been the case for you, but I know that it is for
some.
If your
Christmas has not been all you hoped for, do not despair. And, if your Christmas has been wonderful, be sure
to still remember the True Center of the Holy Day. For your best homecoming, best this side of
eternity at least, is happening right now, right here, as the Holy Spirit has
gathered us once again to receive God’s love.
The Lord knows how difficult life in this world can be, and so He is
always working to gather us and bless us again, to have His herald announce to
all, “Fear not, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which are for all
people, for born to you in the city of David is a Savior, Christ, the Lord. God’s desire today is to give you the
confident faith and praise-filled peace that Simeon and Anna received, when
they were gathered into the presence of the infant Jesus.
Christmas has
always been a time of homecomings, of family reunions, from the house of David
in Bethlehem at the command of a Roman emperor, to our houses today, filled
with favorite foods and football games.
Security and love within the bonds of family are precious gifts from
God, and vital for our lives, vital for us, and also for Joseph, Mary and the
Baby Jesus, huddled in a stable, borrowing furniture from the animals.
And yet God’s
Arm has been revealed in that Manger, and so we move quickly from home to the
mission field, from gathering as the people of God in this place, to sprouting
up before the nations, bearing the righteousness of Christ and singing His
praises, by which the nations also come to hear of the Salvation that extends
to all. This movement of God’s people,
gathering together to receive His Word and Gifts, leads to the movement of God’s
salvation, the sprouting up of righteousness before all the nations. Gathering and going, to and from the Christ
Child.
It is quite simple, but the Church is
filled with foolish sinners. We are so prone
to infection by worldly ideas. We should
learn almost all we need to know about Church and Mission from the Christmas
stories, from the Shepherds and the Wise Men and from Simeon and Anna. From them we learn of gathering around the
Christ Child, in order to be sent out singing His praise and telling His story,
gathering and going, each in the vocations and stations of life that God has
given. Gathering and sending, sending
both near and far, sending as royal priests and as called ministers, each with
a unique role to play in God’s plan - this is God’s unending pattern of
mission.
Gathering and sending are mutually
supportive, but too often we Christians resort to pitting these two movements
against each other. Simply “being in Church,” being the family of God,
secure, receiving, protecting, enjoying, is too often pitted against “being in mission,” out before the world,
risking, telling, seeking. Our
sin-limited minds think one is more important than the other, or that we can’t
do both. There are layers of error in
this thinking, errors which satan uses to discourage and confuse and wear us
down. One mistake is thinking we are the
ones really doing things. Another is thinking
that gathering and reaching out are opposed, rather than understanding they are
the breathing in and the breathing out of the Body of Christ. Another error is assuming a plan that does
not fit earthly models can’t work. Remember,
God’s mission is exactly that, God’s mission.
The Mission of the Church belongs to God. He is the one who planned it, who energizes it
and who moves it. We are useful and
involved in God’s Mission only as He moves and leads us. As we heard from Isaiah, “the Lord God will cause
righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.”
God does mission precisely this way: First He gathers, in order to then reach out,
that yet more may gather. The Herald of
God’s people cries out in service to God’s gathered people. Again from Isaiah, “For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will
not be quiet.” The herald preaches for
the sake of God’s people, to increase their faith and steadfastness, to see
them grow in Christ. And through this pastoral
care for His people, God causes the nations to see and hear, both by leading
her to send missionaries near and far, and also by acting through the daily
lives of each Christian. And so Isaiah
concludes His discussion of Church and Mission.
The herald keeps proclaiming, “until [Zion’s] righteousness goes forth
as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness, and
all the kings your glory.
Christ is the burning torch of salvation, the
light which enlightens the Gentiles, and the glory of God’s people. Today, the light of Christ shows forth when
His people gather to hear the glorious story of God’s grace and mercy. Christ first, in the fullness of time, and Christ
still today, working through the words and actions of His people to reach yet
more people.
Christ first. You see, long before any Christian sprang up
to praise Him before the Nations, Christ Himself sprang up. The Son of God became infinitesimally tiny in
the womb of Mary, a helpless baby in the arms of Simeon, a young boy growing
strong in the Lord, at just the right time.
The willingness of Jesus to set aside His heavenly glory and pass
through all the stages of human growth is a marvel of humble love, love for His
Father, and love for you.
But the incarnation and growth of God’s
Son born of Mary is only the first light of His Love. Starting on His eighth day, continuing in our
Gospel this morning, and each day of His thirty some years walking on this
earth, Jesus perfectly fulfilled every demand of God’s Law, not for Himself,
(it is His own Law, after all), but for you, and me, and everyone. And then even more, much, much more, Jesus,
who loved most of all doing His Father’s will, suffered in our place.
Dreading the pain to come, the One who was
held by Simeon in the Temple knelt in the Garden,
and prayed. Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, prayed
Abba, Father, if it is possible, let this cup of suffering pass from me. But not my will, but Thy will be done, Abba
Father. The Father’s will was done, and
so, out of Jesus’ love for His Father, and out of His love for you, your sins
have been taken away. You and I and
every other sinner on this globe were under the Law, under its condemnation, for
we are sinners. But now, the Law is
fulfilled for you, by the life of Jesus, and your sins against God’s Law are forgiven,
washed away in the blood of Jesus. Your
eternal peace and glory are guaranteed, in the Cross and Resurrection of
Jesus. 
The will of God, His great desire, is to
rescue you from sin and death, and God’s will has been done. So now we, who in our baptisms have been clothed
in His garments of righteousness, are thus privileged to add our joyful Abbas
to the Gethsemane prayer of Jesus.
Because Jesus fulfilled His Abba Father’s will, you can call His Father your
Father, your Abba, your God. Your Savior
has taught you to pray with Him to His Father, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven,’
so that daily you might be reminded who your true Abba Father is, through the
grace of Christ.
If that is not enough of a Christmas
present, just wait, there’s more. Even
when you fail, even when you turn your back on God by falling, yet again, into
sin, still God pursues His will to have you with Himself in glory forever. You have been clothed in garments of
righteousness, the pure white robes of Christ’s righteousness given to you in
your Baptism, where God covered all your sins, and called you by a new name,
calling you His beloved and forgiven child.
When you sin, when I sin, we soil the garments Christ won for us. When we Christians defile the perfect gift we’ve
received from our Father, any reasonable person would be done with us,
But not your Father in Heaven. Even
when you fall into sin, God is not done with you. The Baptized ought never sin, but we do. To our great shame, we who know Christ as
Savior still fail to live as God’s children should. And yet, despite what you deserve for your
sins, the Lord is pleased to wash your garments clean again, to remove the
stain of sin with His Word of Forgiveness, to purify you inside and out through
His Holy Supper. Great are the mercies
that our Lord God has drawn us to, once again here, today, blessings for you,
the people of God, and also a blessing for the nations. This is why, as we leave Christ’s table, we
sing with Simeon, Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, for your Word has
been fulfilled.
And still
God is not finished. Christ first, and Christ
still today. This inward movement, the
gathering by the Holy Spirit of God’s people around the Word and Signs of
Christ, is exactly the beginning point of God’s plan to reach out to the nations. God drew Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem,
bearing Christ, in order that the angels could herald his birth, drawing the
Shepherds in to worship, and then sending them out to tell their neighbors all
they had heard and seen. God drew the
Wise Men by the star to the home of Jesus, so that He could send them back out to
the nations, carrying this good news that a new king has been born for all
people. God drew Simeon and Anna to the
Christ, to reveal the Savior to them, and immediately their voices broke forth
in praise, announcing to the nations that this Child is for them, too.
My wife Shelee and I are being sent to
Spain, to an historically Roman Catholic place, where Mary is firmly in the
center of their faith. And yet, most
Spaniards are Roman Catholic in name only, almost never gathering for services. Worse still, in Spain more and more young
people are denying Christianity altogether. Spain is a wonderful place, but the missionary
task will not be easy. So, we are
thankful to be gathered here with you this morning, to be strengthened for the
work ahead. Because of our shared
confession of Christ, we are bold to ask you to support us. Please support us with your prayers. Know what to pray for by signing up to
receive our newsletter. And also, please
go to your Abba Father in prayer, and ask Him how He might have you support our
mission financially, both as individuals, and as a congregation.
Remember us, and also remember, God sends
you, too. Whether you are a banker or a
rancher or a grade school student, whether you are a parent, grandparent,
brother, sister or child, whether you are eloquent or shy, God sends you into
your daily callings, and He goes with you. He is not calling you to preach on the street
corner, but rather to love your neighbor, and to be ready to give the reason
for the hope that you have. If you’re
not sure how to best live out your role in God’s Mission, if you’re nervous
about giving the reason for the hope you have, there is a simple solution. To be better prepared for your tasks in God’s
Mission, you can simply gather more, study more, hear more, and receive more. Be filled up with Gods’ pure Gospel, and the
Holy Spirit, working through the Word and the Supper, working through the
instruction and wisdom of your pastor, will prepare you to fill just the role
God has in mind for you.
Merry Christmas. God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is
thrilled to reunite again with you today, thrilled to take your sins and give
you His garments of righteousness, thrilled to love you and give you peace. Here your eyes see the salvation, which the
Lord has prepared before the face of all people, a light, to lighten the
Gentiles, and the glory of God’s people, the New Israel, the Church of Christ. Go forth in His peace, singing His praise, Amen. 