Epiphany of
Our + Lord, (Observed), January 5th, A+D 2025
Our Savior’s
and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
What is God
going to do next? Matthew 2:1-12
Sermon audio is available HERE.
What is God going to do
next?
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Gentiles, Christmas for the Nations, the extension of the celebration of the Birth of God’s Son in human flesh, beyond the nation of Israel. At Epiphany God extended the gift that is Jesus Christ to all nations, to all people, so that the ends of the earth could hear of His birth, and the hope that He brings.
Think of all God had to arrange for that
first Epiphany. The Babylonian Exile,
almost 600 years earlier, was, on one level, a just and necessary punishment
for the unfaithfulness and disobedience of Judah. As He had to do so often, the Lord allowed
terrible things to happen to His people, so that they would be shocked out of
their idolatry and evil living, and come back to Him. And so it was.
And yet, on another level, with the
deportation of the Judahites to Babylon, the Lord was already arranging
Epiphany. The Bible doesn’t spell out
this detail, but the most likely way that these magi, these eastern sages, came
to know about the birth of the new King of Israel was from the Word that the
exiles from Judah brought with them.
Faithful Jews, like Daniel, and his three friends, Shadrach, Mishach and
Abednego, brought the Hebrew Scripture with them to Babylon. And wherever the Word of God goes, it
spreads. Many, often most ears reject
God’s Word, but some are always drawn in by it, converted to faith in
the true God, by the Holy Spirit, working through His Word. Certainly the fidelity and bravery of Daniel
in the lion’s den and the Three Young Men in the fiery furnace caused some to
want to hear this Word of the God they would not deny, to meet this LORD God
who protected and delivered them. We
don’t know the details, but the message of the Hebrew Scripture drew the Wise
Men to cross field and fountain, moor and mountain, looking for the newborn
King, whom they intended to worship.
The Lord did a lot to pull together
Epiphany. A tax-enabling census by an
overbearing central government is not nearly as bad as military defeat and
exile. Still, many would view the census
pretty negatively. Nevertheless, God
used Caesar’s project to have His Son born in Bethlehem, to fulfill the word of
the prophet Micah: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth
for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago,
from the days of eternity.” Thus God
brought Joseph and Mary from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem. Prophecy fulfilled, and God’s plan advanced,
as Bethlehem is just a short distance from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,
the logical place for the Wise Men to come, looking for the Newborn King. God was in the middle of it all, pulling it all together, to teach us about this
Child, who as a king rightly received gold, as a priest would put incense to
good use in His prayers, and as the Lord’s sacrificial Lamb, would need myrrh
for His burial.
The Holy Family and the Wise Men were
brought by God to Bethlehem, for their good, for their faith, and also to help
prepare God’s Mission to the ends of the earth.
What is God going to do next?
God did a lot to bring Epiphany together. The gifts of the Magi foreshadow Jesus’ ministry, God in the flesh doing it all, relentless, until “it is finished.” God’s Son accomplished everything necessary to win salvation for all people, for all sinners.
And still, God kept working. Through the Book of Acts, we see how the Lord
did and did and did, working through His very imperfect disciples, to grow the
Word of the Lord and the Church that it creates when the Gospel is proclaimed
faithfully.
And God has done a lot, to extend the
Faith of Christ throughout the world and through the centuries. In these United States, we have lived in the
tail end of a boom time for Christianity, and we struggle to deal with the
increasing rejection and resistance of recent decades. But in most times and most places throughout
2,000 years, the Church has suffered much worse, and still thrived. Because, at the end of the day, as at its
beginning, Christ is the One who protects and preserves His Church, the One who
extends and grows His flock.
What is God going to do next?
We know that God is going to do more,
because He has promised. And also,
because we can see that He is still doing and doing, every day. As He did for the Wise Men, God has given you
the wisdom to come and find Jesus, truly present to receive your worship and
gifts. Even more, He is present to bless
you with His gifts of forgiveness and new life. Through the more
complete Word that the Spirit has inspired and preserved for you in the Bible,
you are in fellowship with the Wise Men, the Shepherds, the Apostles, and all
the saints, those gone before, and those still present on earth. The faith that Jesus gives us at the font,
through proclamation, at the rail, these bind us together with all God’s
people.
What is God going to do next? He’s not done with His Mission. And since we are in communion with Him, since
we are temples of the Holy Spirit, we are not done with His Mission, either. As Christ’s congregation, as members of His
Body, each of us has some role to play in whatever God is going to do
next. God could accomplish His Mission
in whatever way He wants, but He chooses to work through us. Privileged to be included, we can and should
be looking around for opportunities, and trying things. Collectively and individually, each of us
within our various vocations, our various callings and relationships of life,
are free and privileged to try to advance God’s Mission.
Consider the instructions God gave to His
Apostles and Church in the earliest days of Christian Mission. The Lord did not lay out every detail. Go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing and teaching. Proclaim
the excellencies of Him who has called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light. Be
ready to give the reason for the hope that you have, with gentleness and
respect. Be my witnesses, from Jerusalem
to Judea to Samaria and to the ends of the earth. A general plan to move outward with the
Gospel. But not a lot of specifics.
A few times, the New Testament tells us of
some particulars: One time, Paul and
Timothy were forbidden to preach in Asia.
Instead, the Holy Spirit told Paul in a dream to come over to
Macedonia. The first disciples discussed
where to try missions, and prayed about it.
They prayed a lot. All the time,
it seems. Beyond praying, the basic plan
was one, be faithful to the deposit of the faith that Christ had given them,
and then two, go try to tell people all about it. And, despite this seeming lack of planning,
it worked, wonderfully. Because God was
the One doing the real work. Through His Apostles, Deacons,
Pastors and People, to be sure. But as
the Apostle tell us, Paul planted, Apollos watered, but it was God who gave the
growth.
What is God going to do next?
I don’t know, but I know it’s going to be
good. Because the same instructions and
the same promises that the Lord made to the Church before He ascended into
heaven are still in force, for us, today.
God will do His Mission, through His
people. God arranged a lot of moving
parts to bring the Wise Men to Bethlehem, and to get them back home with the
Good News of the Birth of the Savior.
But do note, they did get on their camels and go, (or maybe they
walked). Either way, they made a very
long and arduous journey, just to go to Church the right way, one time,
kneeling before the Christ Child. They
did what they did because they believed God was doing His Mission, and had
graciously included them. Just like He
has done for you.
Pretending God’s Mission is somebody else’s
responsibility is a lie of Satan, and a temptation for every Christian. We all have different abilities, we all have
different callings, and different gifts.
God will use each Christian in the way He knows best. But we are all called to participate.
To refuse to walk in the good works that God prepares for you is a sin. And this includes the good work of contributing to God’s Mission in the ways that He prepares for you. To refuse is harmful to faith. If you do refuse, if we collectively refuse, God will still accomplish His plan, but through someone else. Do not be so foolish, do not miss out. Father, forgive us for the times we have failed to do our part in Your Mission.
Seeing God grow His Church though the salvation of sinners is the greatest
show on earth. Jump on board! You will enjoy the ride, and it will be good
for you, even when the ride bumpy.
What is God going to do next?
I don’t know, exactly. But we do know that at its core, our part in God’s Mission is to get His Word, His Law and His Gospel, into people’s ears in ways that they can understand. We also know the central core of His Mission is this gathering, it is the ongoing Word and Sacrament ministry of Christ, enacted in His congregations. Keeping you and me in the faith is part of God’s Mission, for sure. And yet, God wants more. We have God’s saving Truth. We need to receive it, for ourselves, daily. At the same time, not nearly enough people are coming to join us. So, we look for ways to get to them, to foster opportunities for Christ to give His gifts to more souls.
What is God going to do next through Our Savior’s, Hill City?
It feels like Satan keeps messing up my
calendar and pushing the start date out, but with a lot of good advice from
Shelee, and with an enthusiastic commitment to help from Deanna, we intend to
offer a Spanish Language Bible Study, starting February 25th.
How’s it going to go? I don’t know.
What will it entail, how might you help?
Well, we will need to advertise.
Along with placarding the town with posters, we might start a OSLC
Facebook page, to then advertise on local Hispanic Facebook groups, and on Hill
City Happenings. We plan to have
invitation cards to hand out to people you hear speaking Spanish in Krulls, the
Hardware story, or wherever. If it
becomes a thing, child care might be a need.
There will be many ways to help.
That’s one thing to try. Maybe it won’t be the thing God has
planned. Or maybe it will. What else?
Do you have an idea, something we could try? Let’s talk about it.
And of course, you know people who don’t have a church home. You know people who need the forgiving love of Christ. You can invite them. Not sure how to go about it? That’s fine, I’m never sure either. But I’d be happy to talk to you about how you could try.
Before, during and always, in all these
efforts, like the Early Church, we can pray.
Please begin praying now and keep praying for our Spanish Bible Study
effort. Pray for God to show us how we
can better fulfill our part of His Mission in Hill City. Pray for your friends and neighbors, and ask
the Holy Spirit to show you how to invite them.
What is God going to do next through Our Redeemer, Custer?
Several different members have been
independently thinking and talking about doing more to develop caring
ministries within Our Redeemer. Many of
you already do a lot to help each other, and your neighbors.
With just a bit of organization and more
communication, we could do more and better for one another, and for our
neighbors. That might not sound like
outreach, that might not sound like Mission.
We will certainly want to intentionally keep the Word of Christ in the
center of the caring things we do. And,
if we develop a reputation as a caring community, that will be attractive to
people outside the Church.
Other members are working with me to offer a
Marriage Enrichment course, for members and for the community. This will both be very practical, and we will
also clearly teach the great love story of Christ and His Bride the
Church.
That’s a couple of things to try. Maybe they won’t be the things God has
planned. Or maybe they will. What else?
Do you have an idea, something we could try? Let’s talk about it.
And of course, you know people who don’t
have a church home. You know people who
need the forgiving love of Christ. You
can invite them. Not sure how to go
about it? That’s fine, I’m never sure
either. But I’d be happy to talk to you
about how you could try.
Before, during and always, in all these
efforts, we can pray. Please begin
praying now and keep praying for our efforts.
Pray for God to show us how we can better fulfill our part of His
Mission in Custer. Pray for your friends
and neighbors, and ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to invite them.
Common
Close:
What is God going to do
next?
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burden of growing Christ’s Church is not on our shoulders. For on His own shoulders, Jesus has both carried the Cross, and still carries His lambs to their eternal home. And yet, God has given us tasks to do, a joyful work to join. God works through means, through His Word. God works through His Church. Along with our upward calling as His forgiven children comes the outward calling to be part of His ongoing work. It is a bit of a paradox, a mystery, this Mission of God and our role in it. And so rejoice! For all the deepest and most wonderful things of God are mysteries, through which Jesus holds us close, and draws still more souls to Himself,
In the Name of the Father,
and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
