Simeon's Surprises - Sermon for the 1st Sunday after Christmas

1^st Sunday after Christmas
December 29^th, Year of Our Lord + 2024
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Simeon’s Surprises, Luke 2:22 - 40

Sermon Audio can be accessed HERE.   

     Luke is the singing evangelist.  He records several songs in his account of the life of Christ,
songs which the Church has been singing ever since.  The song of the angels, announcing the birth of Jesus to the shepherds on Christmas night, is the chorus or is referenced in the stanzas of dozens of carols, like Silent Night, which we just sang.  And of course, it is the opening line of the Gloria in Excelsis, the second song of the historic liturgy: Glory be to God on high, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.

 

   There is also the song of Zechariah, the Benedictus: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel…  Zechariah thanks God for the birth of his son, John the Baptist, and for the Christ whose way John would prepare. 

   As we considered last Sunday, Luke also gives us the Song of Mary, the Magnificat, which Mary sang to her cousin Elizabeth, and to John the Baptist, eavesdropping in her womb.  The Church sings with Mary:  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. 

   Today we have Simeon’s Song, known in Latin as the Nunc Dimittis, which means “Now you are dismissing,” as in Lord, now you let your servant go in peace.  Simeon first sang these words as he held the Christ Child in his arms, a song of joy, and confidence, a song about the victory of God, for us.  Simeon’s Song has been set to music hundreds of different ways through the centuries.  The version we just sang is one of the best recent contributions to the collection.   

            Lord bid Your servant go in peace, 
            Your word is now fulfilled.
            These eyes have seen salvation’s dawn, 
            This Child so long foretold.

   The Christ is born!  The Babe of Bethlehem is in the world, come to complete His great salvation mission.  This is a wonderful surprise, and there are many more surprises to come. 

   Simeon was a faithful Israelite, one of the Remnant who believed and lived from the promise that, at just the right time, the Lord God of Israel would send His Savior.  Simeon received another surprise, a special promise, just for him, the promise that he would not die before seeing the Lord’s Christ.  When Mary and Joseph, obeying the Law of Moses, brought Jesus to Jerusalem to be dedicated to the Lord, Simeon knew from the Holy Spirit that the Lord’s promise had been fulfilled. 

    Now, the Christ has come to His Temple, which means that Simeon could die anytime, and very happily.  Simeon is glad to be a servant of the Lord, happy to be the servant of the little Child he held.  Simeon rejoices that now he can depart in peace, he can die with joy and confidence, for the Word of God has been fulfilled.  Salvation from on high has dawned in the darkness of our world. 

   All of God’s promises receive their yes, in the infant Jesus.  All prophecy, all of the promises of the Old Testament had been awaiting His arrival.  All that God had promised to do for His people is being fulfilled in the Christ Child.

   Simeon rejoices that God has revealed His salvation.  But salvation from what?  Now, this may seem an obvious question.  We drill this basic fact into the heads of our children.  We start the service by confessing our sins; everyone here knows that Jesus came to save us from our sins. 

   Or do we?  Yes, we know it as an answer to a question, and that’s good.  But do we always believe it as the truth, about ourselves?  Our lives are very comfortable, mostly,  and by the standards of the world we are a pretty fine group of people.  We are by the ease and appearance of our lives tempted to think sin is a problem, but not so much for us.  We are tempted to think this way, because often we put on a pretty good show of not being such terrible sinners.  And I’m glad that we all make an effort to avoid sin.  And how could we not try to avoid sin, for we have been redeemed and claimed by the Holy One.  Still, we are tempted to ignore the sin that still clings to us, most especially because facing our own sin is painful.  To confront or not confront your own sinfulness is the “falling” that Simeon spoke of, the question of whether we honestly confess the Truth, about Christ, and about ourselves. 

   Simeon’s “falling” is repentance, my acknowledgement of and sorrow for my sins, and my sinfulness.  And, everyone will repent, eventually.  Every knee will bow before Christ and His Holy Truth.  The critical question is whether a soul repents now, while it is still daytime, and the work of salvation can be done, or only when it is too late.  When every eye sees the One who was laid in a manger suddenly coming on the clouds, to usher in the new heavens and the new earth, then repentance will be no help.  To confess one’s sinfulness then will be too late.      

     By grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, lest anyone should boast.  Saving faith in Jesus must be worked in us by God.  We know this.  But, what about repentance?  Is this also God’s work, or are we responsible to repent, out of our own knowledge and wisdom and will? 

   To be saved, the sinner must repent, it is necessary for communion with God, who is holy, and hates sin.  And so, just as He must work faith in us, our Lord does not leave such a great work as repentance in our hands.  True repentance is beyond the strength of the unbeliever,  just as is trusting in Christ and His forgiveness.  As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit, and so we can struggle against our sinful nature, we are much more involved in repentance.  Still, whether before conversion or after, we need God to repent.  God works repentance in us, by preaching His Law, even more, by preaching Christ.  For the true depth of our sin, the truth of our need, is finally revealed through hearing of all that Christ suffered for us.  The sword that pierced Mary’s soul is the ultimate way the Holy Spirit works true repentance. 

   Simeon’s final words to Mary must have been quite a bitter surprise, for Simeon, as he held Baby Jesus, and had been singing so joyfully.  Quite a shock for Mary and Joseph, too.  It’s hard to think that this most wonderful person of all, this perfect, sinless, humble Babe, who would grow into the man Jesus, should have to suffer, for our sins.  The Cross is the Lord’s strongest tool to bring us to repentance.  This is true, even for Mary, whose soul would be pierced, through seeing up close and personal all that her Son would suffer. 

   But we do not despair, for God does not stop with this bitter surprise.  The Christ who causes the fall of many also raises many.  Repentance is bitter, but Salvation is even sweeter, the very best surprise of all.  As Simeon sang:

        This is the Savior of the world, 
        The Gentiles’ promised light,
        God’s glory dwelling in our midst,
        The joy of Israel.

   This Baby is the Savior!  Wonderful surprise.  And, there is another one coming, right behind it.  Do you suppose Simeon was surprised that Jesus was the Savior of the world?  Was he surprised that the promise was also for the Gentiles, as the Holy Spirit led him to sing?  Perhaps not.  Perhaps faithful Simeon knew what the Lord had declared through the prophet Isaiah:          “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)   Maybe Simeon always knew.  But certainly this news of Christ for the nations was a surprise to many Jews. 

   Ancient Israel had been set apart by God.  God through His blessings and through His instruction made them different than the Gentiles, that is the nations, all the non-Israelite people in the world.  God set Israel apart, for their good, and for the good of all people.  

   But you know what can happen with a child who is favored over his siblings.  Through generations of being set apart, it was natural for Israelites to begin to think that God only favored them, that His providence and love and mercy did not extend to the nations.  And remember, most of the nations that surrounded Israel were bitter enemies, often persecutors or even conquerors of God’s special people. 

   That the Christ would be the joy of Israel, that was expected.  But that the Messiah would be the Savior of the World, the Light of the nations, the Hope of all people?  The Jews, or better said, Judahites, members of the tribe of Judah, were the great majority of the remnant of Israel at the time when Christ visibly walked this earth.  After centuries of strife, warfare, exile and return, many Judahites were so turned inward that they hated non-Jews.  Or at least they considered them unworthy of God’s salvation.  But Simeon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, sings that Jesus is the light of the nations.  A wonderful surprise, even if unwelcomed by some.   

   Many first century Jews were largely turned inward, unconcerned for the rest of the world.  Does this malady continue to plague the Christian Church today?  We are Gentiles, for the most part, members of the nations, who have put on Christ in our Baptisms.  We have been grafted into the true root of Israel by faith.  Do we forget that Christ is still for all people, all nations?  Do we prefer to ignore the fact that God wills to work through us, through His Church, to reach out to the world of unbelievers? 

   Like forgetting about the ugly reality of our own sin, it is easy for Christians to disregard the world, forgetting that, however evil the world may be, it is made up of souls for whom Christ died.  Souls for whom there is plentiful forgiveness and salvation, in the blood of Christ.       

Lord, protect us from indifference to Your Mission. 

   How can this all be?  How can a tiny baby be expected to do so much?  Because this Child is God, in our midst.  The Son of God come down to earth, to do all that it takes to save the world.  As Job declared: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” (Job 19:25)  Or as the Lord declared through Ezekiel: “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.” (Ezekiel 34:11)  Or from Isaiah “The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.” (Isaiah 59:15-16)

   That the Savior be human was necessary so that He could truly suffer, and die, for sins.  The sins separating us from God are our sins, human sins, the plague of every man, woman and child descended from Adam.  And so, this debt had to be paid by a human being.  That the Savior be divine, that He be God, was also necessary, since no mere human death could merit forgiveness for all people.  Only the death of the eternal Son of God would be worth enough to cover all sin.  Because His value and merit are infinite. 

   Surprise upon surprise, grace upon grace, God and man in one person, Jesus Christ, born to save.  His story of suffering, the hardest story ever told, God then resurrects into the sweetest surprise in history.  And so, clinging by faith to the resurrected Christ, we with Simeon worship the Babe of Bethlehem, Immanuel, God with us, come to save.   

   This Baby causes every saint to sing with Simeon.  That means you.  Every believer is called a saint, that is, ever believer is called holy, declared to be holy, by God, for the sake of Jesus.  Sainthood does not come from doing good work.  Being a saint is certainly not determined by a committee in Rome.  No, God declares everyone who trusts in His Son to be one of His holy ones, a saint.  For every believing sinner finds forgiveness in Jesus’ blood, and new life in His resurrection.  Faith in Christ re-creates, it restores, it regenerates.  This Baby is the One who gives us access to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, opening the way for us to sing God’s praises forever. 

   This baby who grew to be the Savior gives life to every person whom He joins to Himself, through repentance and faith.  To the Jew first, and also for the Gentile, God’s Son came to save.  And so, Mary carried Jesus in her womb, and sang.  The angels celebrated His birth, and sang.  Simeon sang to God, holding Jesus in His arms. 

   Baptized into His death and resurrection, we have been clothed in Christ.  He has joined Himself to us, and so we too sing.  When we rise from this altar, having received the Body and Blood of Christ, put into our hands, received into our bodies, we sing.  And most often, most appropriately, we sing Simeon’s Song.  We sing and rejoice in the surprising Good News that we too, are ready to die, fully prepared for life forever with God, by faith in the forgiveness won by the Babe of Bethlehem.    

   We too have seen God’s salvation.  From this altar, obeying Christ’s instruction, we receive His Holy Body and Blood into our lowly bodies, for forgiveness, and also for strength for Christian living.  We like Simeon are ready to die.  We are also ready to live, for we are filled with Christ, ready to confess His Name and His Gospel, and to love and serve the neighbors He places around us.  So we sing with Simeon, and with all the saints:    

    With saints of old, with saints to come, 
    To You we lift our voice;
    To Father, Son, and Spirit blest, 
    Be honor, love, and praise.

And all God’s people said, Amen.  

Connecting You to What Matters Most - Sermon for Christmas Eve

The Nativity of Our + Lord – Christmas Eve
December 24^th, A+D 2024
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota

 Sermon Audio available HERE.

Connecting you to what matters most.  

     I’m thankful to Goldenwest, our local telecommunications provider, for giving me the theme for tonight’s message.  It can be a challenge to choose a good theme for Christmas Eve.  In this Lessons and Carols service, we hear so many texts, so much of God’s Word, how will I boil it down to one main thought? 

     Then I walked into the church office last week and saw this calendar on the counter.  It’s from Goldenwest, and across the front it says: Connecting you to what matters most. 

     That’s very helpful, because connecting you to what matters most is exactly why God has gathered us here tonight.  So, thank you, Golden West.   

     The question really comes down to this: “What truly matters most?”.  What do you believe matters most?  What are the things, the people, to whom you most want to be connected, that make your life good and complete?   

    “Connecting you to what matters most” is Golden West’s company slogan.  What do they mean by “what matters most”? 

     The photos of the calendar would suggest that rural South Dakota is what GW has in mind… (show pictures, give commentary, really beautiful)

     Finding beauty in the world is certainly good, it probably matters more than many of us give it credit.  Life as God has given it to us is supposed to be beautiful.  Ugliness goes with decay and death and sin.  Christmas is beautiful.  We love so much to decorate for Christmas that we start in early November, once all those “beautiful” Halloween decorations come down. 

     The story of the Incarnation and Birth of Jesus is beautiful, the ultimate story of humilty and dedication and hope.   Beauty has always been important to Christ’s Church.  At our best, we, within our means and abilities, pursue beauty.  In our music, art, architecture, in our hymnody and preaching, we seek to adorn the communication of the beautiful message with beautiful things.   

      Of course, by their slogan, G.W. certainly means connecting you via telecommunications to, well, to everything, I think they would say.  Via wires and waves, our lives have become remarkably interconnected.  And certainly, there are many blessings in modern telecommunications.  Costs and risks, too, no doubt, but many blessings. 

    In terms of “what matters most,” I think G.W. would likely stress connecting you to loved ones, allowing you to communicate with your kids, your parents, your bothers and sisters, your grandparents, neighbors and friends.  For sure, this matters a lot. 

     When Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait separated my wife Shelee and me, telecommunications were an amazing blessing.  I remember clearly how wonderful were the two times, over seven months, that Shelee and I were able to talk.  Once was on a military satelitte phone.  I love you, over…  The pregancy is going fine, over…  I miss you so much, over…  The second time was on a regular long-distance phone call from the home of an American oil field engineer who lived and worked in Dharhan, Saudi Arabia.  Two gifts of telecommunications that we will never forget.    

   Today, thanks to the internet, you can text or talk or video chat with anyone anywhere,  as long as you are both connected.  Is this what G.W. means?  Is this the connection that matters most?  Well, a lot depends on who you are connecting to, doesn’t it?  And on what is being communicated.  Most of the connections we make on the internet don’t matter much at all.  A follower or friend on the internet is not the same, not even close, as a friend in real life.  Far too many of our “connections” are just distraction, eye-candy that keeps our heads down, that prevents you and me from connecting to the people who are right around us.  A barrage of shallow, fleeting, often un-real connections, that keep us from connecting with people and things that matter more.     

   Keeping you connected to what matters most, from the Church’s perspective, is the complete opposite of most of the connections fed to us by the Interwebs.  I’m not saying the internet isn’t used to proclaim Christ and His Good News of reconciliation and peace with God.  Many Christians and many Churches, ours included, try to use the Web for good. 

     Telecommunications are a communication technology, of the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  So is the printing press, which got its start in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.  Interestingly, the early use of both technologies was driven in large part by two separate causes:  On one hand, sharing God’s Word and the teaching of Christ; on the other, sharing socially transgressive and sexually explicit materials.  Light and darkness, good and evil, both trying to expand through information technology.    

     Sad to say, I think the ratio of good Christian material vs. inappropriate material is much worse with internet today that it was with the 16th century printing press.  The Christian must take care, because for all that is useful and good, most of the Web is a cesspool.  I’m not giving up on using the internet, but I don’t think it is the best way to truly connect you to what matters most. 

     That’s why I’m very glad we are here together, tonight.  All in one room, phones put away, listening, singing, speaking God’s Word together, praying.  I’m thankful we are here, face to face, because, despite what G.W. or the internet might tell you, connecting you to what matters most means one thing.  What matters most is being connected to the Babe of Bethlehem, God’s Son, who became a human baby, and grew up to bcome the Man of Sorrows, the Scapegoat of Golgotha, the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself, to take away the sin of the world. 

     Being connected to Jesus is so much better than being up to date on the latest post from whatever influencer you follow.  Your favorite internet personality may entertain you, enrage you, maybe even give you some helpful tips.  But he or she will not forgive you your sins.  The vast majority of internet influencers do nothing to take away your guilt, or teach you Godly wisdom for living.  A life hack about all the cool ways you can use a paperclip is fine.  But Jesus offers so much more. 

     Being connected to Jesus is infinitely better than being continually distracted and entertained, hopefully not titillated, by the limitless stream of outrageous, angry, and shallow material that telecommunications has on offer.   

     I’m thankful we are here, together, tonight.  Because meeting and understanding and coming to trust in the Savior, Jesus, works so much better face to face.  Which makes sense, because face to face togetherness is our ultimate goal.  All who trust in Christ for forgiveness and new life will be face to face, with God and His angels and all the saints.  Face to face, forever, in paradise.  And that is what matters most.

     Now, often this particular Truth from God’s Word will generate some push-back, spoken or unspoken, from souls who are working hard to make a good life in this digital age.  I mean, what about my family, our time together?  Are you saying they aren’t what matters most?  What about my job, which allows me to care for my family, and make a good life for us?  What about keeping my kid active in sports and school, so they can get ahead, and have a good life?  Can you really say what matters most is gathering around an ancient book to learn ancient stories and sing old songs? 

   Well, yes I can, but only because God said it first. 

    Family and friends and honest work and providing for your family are all very important; they really matter, a lot.  They matter so much, because God has given all these good things to you.   They matter, but they all have a problem that prevents them from being what matters most of all.  All these important things are imperfect, always somewhat disappointing, never totally fulfilling, because you are disappointing.  Because I am disappointing.  So are all your family and friends.  God gave you your family, your friends, your honest work, your home.  God gave you these beautiful Black Hills, to explore and enjoy.  But we, all of us, deface them, with our selfishness, our foolishness, our sin, which continually ruins things. 

    This is why being connected to the Babe of Bethlehem is what matters most.  For only Christ Jesus offers forgiveness, restoration, removal of guilt, peace with God.  Peace and joy that spills over into peace with your family, your friends, yourself.  Peace and contentment that makes all the other things that matter even better. 

     Your family, your work, your recreation, your life, now and in eternity, will be much richer, if you are connected to what matters most, if you are in communion with the One who matters most.  He was born for you.  He served and healed and taught, for you.  Jesus suffered, for you, in your place, and He died.  He died for you.   But death could not hold the Lord of Life.  And so He rose, for you.  He has taken the wood of His manger and the wood of His Cross, and is building a heavenly mansion, for you.   

     God grant you a wonderful Christmas, filled with the peace, love and joy of Jesus.  And God grant you what matters most, an ongoing connection to Christ, through His Word, through His Meal, through His Church, the gathering of the Baptized, staying connected to Jesus, today, tomorrow, and forever and ever, Amen. 

  

Inside Out? Or Outside In? - Sermon for the 4th Sunday of Advent

Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 22^nd, A+D 2024
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Inside Out?  Or Outside In?  
Luke 1:39 - 56

Audio of the Gospel and Sermon available HERE.

   Mary’s Song, the Magnificat, again?  Some of you have heard and sung the Magnificat so much this December, it’s invading your dreams.  Which in my opinion, is just fine.  Others of you, not able to join us on Tuesdays or Wednesdays for our Midweek Advent Services, don’t know what I’m talking about. 

   A delightful version of Mary’s Song, different from the one we just sang, comes right after the sermon in our order of Evening Prayer, which we used for our Midweek Advent services.  Next year you should definitely check it out.  Along with singing Mary’s Song, the second week we also heard today’s Gospel reading.  Lots of Mary and lots of her song, as we considered confessing sins, confessing praise, and confessing the faith, all through the lens of the Mother of our Lord.  Today, Mary’s Song is again before our eyes, in our ears, in our mouths, and, Lord willing, in our hearts.  And that’s great. 

   We will not be digging into the various ways Mary shows us how to confess this morning.  Rather, we will take a step back, and think about faithful Mary, and about ourselves, as Baptized Believers in Christ.  How does this all work?  What can we discern, from Mary’s experience, about this whole “being a Christian” thing?  Mary can help us answer the question: Is this faith and life in Christ an “inside-out” thing, or is it “outside-in”?   

   Mary’s story conjures up so many questions for us.  She went through so much, we naturally wonder about her soul, her emotions, about her interior life.  Mary, did you know?  What must she have been thinking?  How did she bear up under the pressure?  Great, she believes the Word proclaimed to her by the angel Gabriel.  But, who else would believe her story?  What would Joseph say, and do, when she told him she was pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit?  Could she even muster the nerve to tell him?   

   The Lord took care of this last potential disaster, by sending an angel to speak to Joseph, in a dream, explaining the situation, and calling Joseph to the role of protector and adoptive father to Mary’s Son.  This was hardly the last crisis Mary would face, but at least she would have Joseph by her side.  He’s really great.  In Spain, they don’t celebrate fathers on a random Sunday in June.  Rather their celebration of dads happens on St. Joseph’s Day, January 19^th.  I really like that; Joseph is a great example for any father to emulate. 

   Do you feel like there are any parallels between Mary and Joseph’s difficulties and your life?  I’m sure you don’t put yourself on their level in your mind, but still, does it seem like God sometimes is asking too much of you?  You want to be a good parent, but your spouse is absent, or one of your children has a disability that makes everything hard.  You commit to caring for your own aging parents, but their problems are too much for you, and they don’t make caring for them very easy.  You want to be a good boss, but you know some of your employees are stealing from you, in time, effort, or in actual materials.  You want to be a good employee, but your boss is distracted and is ruining the business.  Cancer comes for you, or worse, for a loved one.  How can we bear up?  Can Mary teach us anything? 

   Mary, as the Gospels describe her, seems so exceptional.  She has a basic biology question for Gabriel, “how can this be, since I am a virgin?”  But once the angel explains that her pregnancy would be a miraculous work of God, Mary declares: Behold, I am the maidservant of the Lord.  Let it be to me according to your word.  Then, when she arrives in her safe place, to spend a few months with Elizabeth, she bursts into song:  My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.  Thirty years later, she petitions her Son to help out some newlyweds with their wine shortage, and she instructs the servants at the wedding feast: Whatever Jesus tells you to do, do it.  That’s good advice!

   How did Mary manage to face all the problems she had without folding?  How was she able to speak such wonderful truths?  We all love a hero, or a heroine, and Mary certainly fits the bill.  Somehow, we feel more hopeful about ourselves when we can hear about the great deeds of others, read their biographies, or even better, their autobiographies.  We love to get a peek into their hearts and minds, and see how they managed to stay the course and do great things.  And that’s good.  In this vein, Chapter 11 of the Letter to the Hebrews details the great deeds of faith done by Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and many others.    

   Studying the lives of the saints is wise.  But care is called for, for by our nature, we assume that life, even Christian life, works “inside out.” Everybody loves a self-sufficient neighbor.  That’s fine, to a point, in this life.  But, from Adam we inherited the false idea that even in relation to God we are in some measure autonomous, self-ruling people.  Our default assumption is that the key to doing well, to being a good person and pleasing God, is internal fortitude and commitment.   “So, let’s go, let’s muster the gumption and just do it, like King David, or Solomon, or Joseph and Mary.” 

   It’s easy to think that there is something truly unique and special within Mary’s nature, that by her innate wisdom, commitment, holiness, or bravery, she found the strength to face and defeat all her challenges.  She seems to be so strong on the inside, that must be what allowed her to do great things on the outside.  Mary accepted, Mary praised, Mary bore, Mary endured, Mary suffered, Mary showed us the way: Inside-Out, right?  So, be strong, be brave, commit to holiness, and you can do great things, right?   

   That strength, wisdom, and good works come from the inside and then flow out is an all too common understanding of the Christian life.  Many will acknowledge Jesus has given us the example.  He has even removed the biggest roadblocks.  But, they say, to make your salvation sure, you need to walk the walk.  Be loving.  Choose Christ.  There’s always something.  So, let’s get after it, they exhort.  Get serious and be a good man, a good woman.  Be a Christian. 

   It’s easy to think this way.  Easy, but wrong.  Christian faith and life are not “inside to outside” propositions.  It’s easy to see that “Inside-Out” is mistaken if we stop thinking about who Mary was and what she did in our mind’s eye, and instead turn to look closely at God’s Word.  If we actually take the time to listen to what Mary said and what Mary did, we will discover a different reality.   

   Did Mary go looking for the great faith project of her life?  No.  She was a normal, faithful, unknown Jewish girl in Nazareth, looking forward to her marriage to Joseph.   God sent the angel Gabriel to go find her, to go tell her what the Lord had in store for her.  God’s message came to Mary, from the outside.  Her acceptance and faith are praiseworthy – Behold the maidservant of the Lord, let it be unto me according to your word.  But these wonderful words came after Gabriel appeared to her, out of thin air. 

    After Gabriel called her highly favored, and calmed her fears.  After he told her she would bear a son, Jesus, the Son of the Most High.  After the angel declared her son would rule on the throne of David, forever.  Mary’s great confession of faith came after Gabriel answered her biology question, explaining that she would conceive by the power of God the Holy Spirit, a miracle, worked by God, for whom nothing is impossible. 

   Nothing will be impossible with God.  What truths from Israel’s history came to Mary’s mind when she heard those words?  Maybe Abraham believing that God could raise Isaac from the dead, and so he was ready to obey the Lord’s command and sacrifice his and Sarah’s only son, the son of promise.  Or the people of Israel, trapped between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army, thinking escape was impossible.  Or perhaps Mary thought of Jericho’s mighty walls.  Could they really be tumbled, just by God’s people walking in circles, shouting and blowing shofars?  Yes! For nothing is impossible with God. 

   Mary’s ears, heart and mind had been filled with all the stories of God’s people receiving impossible blessings from His mighty hand.  So, when the angel put the promise of the greatest miracle yet into her ears, Outside-In, Mary was ready to believe.      

   That Mary understood God’s Outside-In way is clear from her song.  Reminded by Elizabeth of what God had done for her, putting His Son in her womb and giving her faith to believe it, Mary bursts forth in song:  "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, (He saves me).  For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, … the Mighty One has done great things for me.  God has done great things for me, Outside–In.  He remembers His mercy, and shows strength with His arm.  He scatters the proud, and lifts up the humble and lowly.  God feeds the hungry with good things, and fulfills the promises He made to Abraham our father.  Outside-In. 

   There is great comfort in Mary’s pregnancy, even though it was, from her perspective, an unplanned crisis.  The comfort of Mary’s pregnancy was precisely that God was coming from the outside, from heavenly glory, to enter into His creation, in order to redeem that creation.  Rending the heavens and coming down, God’s Son took on human flesh from Mary and became our Brother: this was the ultimate Outside-In maneuver of God.  And Mary rejoiced to receive it.    

   If we fall into the error of thinking that being a Christian is an Inside-Out affair, we are setting ourselves up for angst and doubt and possibly despair.  First, because this is not how God has ordered things.  And second, if we honestly take stock of our resources, our strength, our commitment, our ability to choose the right and faithfully overcome life’s struggles, we will know that we are weak and unstable, confused and so prone to mistakes, to failure, to sin.    

   Outside-In.  Salvation and holy living must come to us, they are necessarily “extra nos,” from outside us.  For the intention of the heart of man is evil from his youth, (Genesis 8:21).  As Jesus said, out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Matthew 15:19) 

   Salvation must be Outside-In, for you were dead in your trespasses and sins.  Spiritual corpses, that is what the Bible teaches us we were, from our very beginning.  And what do corpses do?  Nothing, except decay.   You were dead in your trespasses and sins, but…  But, God came.  God came from outside you and made you alive, together with Christ Jesus…  By grace you have been saved, through faith.  And this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.  Outside-In. (Ephesians 2:1 - 10)    

   This is what Divine Liturgy or Divine Service is all about.  God coming to bless, Outside-In, is the essence of Divine Service.  Please understand, Divine Service is not first nor even essentially a particular form of a Sunday worship service.  No, Divine Service happens whenever and wherever God through His Word comes from outside this broken world to rescue and serve us dying sinners. 

   Divine service is Gabriel being sent to Mary with heavenly greetings, and impossibly good news.  Divine Service is the Captain of the Lord’s armies meeting Joshua, to strengthen him right before he led Israel across the Jordan and into the Promised Land.  Divine service is Jesus engaging in heavenly conversation with the sinful Samaritan woman at the well, and the Canaanite mother.  Divine service is the mother and father, reading Bible stories to their children, and doing their best to answer their questions.  And yes, divine service is God gathering us here, and coming to join us, to take our sins from us, and give us in exchange His forgiveness and righteousness and holiness and joy, all delivered to us through His Word. 

    The various services we follow, the settings of the “Divine Service” liturgies in our hymnals (and on our screen) are so-called because they have been honed by the Church over 2,000 years to keep the direction straight.  We love them not because they are old, or new.  We love them because they reliably help us hear and see, believe and receive God’s Outside-In blessings, which make all things new. 

   As He did for Mary, the Lord also does for you.  God loves to come and serve every humble sinner who needs relief and restoration, forgiveness and new life. 

   Salvation is Outside-In.  It has to be.  But that’s not the end of it.  When God has come from the outside to deliver His gifts, then watch out.  Outside-In is the necessary start, and Outside-In is also the necessary ongoing power-source for faith and life.  But Outside-In is not the end of the story.  Outside-In leads to Inside-Out. 

   Mary really did do amazing things.  Sing the greatest praise song ever?  Easy.  Ignore the
whispers of adultery, marry Joseph, raise Jesus, and stay the course?  Yes, no doubt.  I don’t know if, nine-months pregnant, she rode a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, or maybe she walked.  But either way.  Flee to Egypt to protect the Child from King Herod?  Bear the pain of watching her Son suffer and die?  By God’s grace, Mary did all these things. 

   How was the Apostle Paul able to face all his doubters, the Christians he had once persecuted?  Not to speak of his enemies, the Pharisees who hated him most of all for converting to Christianity.  How did he do it?  As Paul said, I can do all things, through Him who strengthens me.  And again, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” And again, “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”  (Philippians 4:13 and 2:12-13, Colossians 1:27) Outside-In leads to Inside-Out. 

   Outside–In leads to Inside-Out.  Truly good works won’t rise up from within you, not unless there is Someone Stronger working in you.  Good works begin in admitting that, apart from Jesus, you can’t do anything to please God.  Abide me, and Me in you, says Jesus, and you will bear much fruit. (John 15:1-5)   The Eleven disciples, taught about the Vine and the Branches on the night Jesus was betrayed, went on to found the Church, which grew from just 120 souls at Pentecost to take over the Roman Empire in the 4^th Century. 

   And the secret of their success isn’t a secret:  Be still, and know that I am God.  Stop doubting, and believe.  Hear His Word, repent of your sins, and receive His forgiveness.  Take and eat, take and drink, Christ entering into you by His true Body and Blood.  Receive the implanted Word, which is able to save your souls, making you wise unto salvation, and also, wise for holy living.  The Holy Spirit will give you a desire, strength and knowledge to fulfill your daily callings the way the Lord would have you do.  (Psalm 46:10, John 20:28, Matthew 26:26-27, James 1:21)

    God’s Outside-In salvation will result in Inside-Out Christian living.  It won’t be all smooth sailing.  The more you receive Christ and His gifts, the more prepared you are to love and live as He desires, the more Satan will hate you, and seek to trip you up.  And you will struggle against your own flesh.  You may not feel like you are making progress. 

   But do not fear.  Jesus is not finished with His Outside-In work, for you.  What a comfort to know, whether our Christian walk went pretty good today, or was a complete disaster, Christ is always ready to Outside-In you again.  Jesus is always coming from the outside, to bless you on the inside with His grace and mercy, His forgiveness, peace and strength. 

   And so, our souls also magnify the Lord, for He is doing great things for us,  

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

Rejoice John, you are a child of Wisdom! - Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent

3^rd Sunday of Advent, December 15^th, A+ D 2024
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Rejoice John, you are a child of Wisdom!

Sermon Audio available HERE.

   Rejoice John!  For the Lord God rejoices over you with a song, because you are a child of Wisdom! 

   St. Paul exhorts John the Baptist, and all Christians, to rejoice always, in every
circumstance.  But, as our Gospel reading begins, John the Baptist is sitting in Herod’s prison, has been for months.  John’s disciples are allowed to visit him, and once in a while Herod will bring John out for a while to speak with him.  But John is still imprisoned.  I think he probably assumes, correctly, that he will not leave captivity alive.  I would find it very hard to rejoice in such circumstances. 

   Unsurprisingly, John seems to be struggling.  He hears news of all the wonderful things Jesus is doing, and he expresses confusion.  He sends a question to his Cousin:  “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  We aren’t given any more of a window inside John’s mind, but the Baptizer seems to be doubting Jesus’ identity, whether He is truly the Messiah, the promised Savior.  Perhaps John expected more fire and brimstone from Jesus, more burning of the chaff, more warnings for sinners about the coming judgment.  Instead, John keeps hearing about Jesus delivering gifts of healing and restoration.

    Well, the fire will come.  But burning the sinful chaff of humanity is not the main point of Jesus’ ministry.  The hell of fire for the wicked is reality, but Jesus’ goal is not to send people to the flames.  His goal is to save them from the fire, and bring them into God’s eternal family.  Even warnings about the fire serve this greater purpose, to turn people from the broad and easy way that leads to destruction, so they can be moved onto the Way of Salvation.  The fire serves to prepare Jesus’ hearers for saving water, for the washing of regeneration, for new birth, into the Kingdom of Heaven. 

     The miracles of Jesus, healing the sick and lame, casting out demons, raising the Widow of Nain’s son, these are like new births.  Jesus restores broken people to shalom, peace and wholeness.  He rescues the outcast, bringing them from estrangement from God to acceptance and unity.  A new start in life, a new start with God, and also with others.  Jesus in His ministry is driving at New Birth, the New Birth of Wisdom.  For, as Jesus concludes our reading this morning, Wisdom is justified, declared to be righteous and wonderful, by all her children. 

   Wisdom in the Bible is portrayed as a woman, especially in the book of Proverbs, probably because in both the Hebrew and Greek languages, Wisdom is a feminine noun.  But even though Wisdom is portrayed as feminine, the Truth is that Jesus is Wisdom, the Wisdom of God, the Father’s best and highest thought.  When Jesus says Wisdom is justified by her children, He is claiming to be Wisdom, and He is claiming to be God, by echoing the justifying words of the sinners and tax collectors, when they heard Jesus celebrate the greatness of John the Baptist, and so they justified God. 

   Our Lord sends off the disciples of John to reaffirm him in the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.  “Tell John about the miracles,” He instructs them, because they’re just like the prophet Isaiah predicted the Christ would do.    

   Jesus then goes on to discuss the Baptizer with the crowds.  Who did you go out to see?  The last and great prophet, second to none among men born of women.  On par with Moses, Elijah and Elisha, a first ballot election to the Prophets Hall of Fame.  “When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John.”  Whoo-hoo, we were baptized by one of God’s greatest servants, God has smiled, on us.  And so, they declared that God is just.  They justified God, that is they proclaimed that God is righteous and good, most especially for sending them John to administer a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

   Wisdom, and God, are both declared to be just, righteous and good, by all who see and hear and believe the Good News, the Gospel, that Jesus of Nazareth is both declaring and enacting.  In fact, Jesus announces that all who enter the Kingdom of God are even greater than John the Baptizer.  “I tell you,” He says, “among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 

   Being reborn as a child of God, being made a child of Wisdom Incarnate, the God-Man Jesus Christ, this re-birth is the greatest thing that can happen to a human being.  Being a child of God is even greater than being a great prophet like Elijah or John the Baptizer.  Why?  Because the only way to become a child of God is by being united by faith to the eternal Son of God.  “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.”  All the prophets, from Moses and Elijah down to John, were forerunners, preparing the Way of the Lord, promising justice and mercy would come with the Messiah, the Christ.  “But now the Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save.” The Christ has come.  Everything old is being made new, everything broken is being restored, new life springs up all around. 

    Jesus is not excluding John the Baptist from the Kingdom of God.  John the Baptist, along with all the faithful prophets, indeed, all the faithful children of Israel, are also included in the Kingdom, by God’s grace, poured out from the Cross.  Jesus is simply reminding us that nothing we sinners do, not even a great prophetic work, nothing we do earns us the right to be called children of God.  Because our works are not perfect, because we are not perfect, we are not sinless.  But the Sinless One has come and is doing His great work, from Bethlehem to Calvary.  Jesus called the fire that we deserve down upon Himself, and extinguished the flames in His own body.  So now, all who live from baptismal faith in Christ are justified.  All who trust in Christ are declared to be righteous, the free and life-giving gift of God.  And since you are justified, you are also great in God’s eyes, forever, for Jesus’ sake.      

      The faithful Old Testament prophets and saints, along with the believing crowds, including the tax collectors, all these characters in today’s Gospel drama, are children of Wisdom.  Thankful, wise children rejoice to declare that Wisdom is just.  The children of Wisdom are Christians, little Christs, who find their self-worth in Him, and so tell forth His excellencies.  Because He is truly worthy of praise, forever and ever, Amen.

     There are others characters, of course, naysayers, in today’s Gospel.  Opponents of the message of John and Jesus, whom it will be good for us to study.  Because we still face opponents today, who are descended from the opponents of Jesus’ and John’s time.  And they still employ many of the same tactics. 

     The first opponent isn’t mentioned, but the backdrop of the whole account depends on his opposition.  I’m speaking of Herod, Herod Antipas, to be precise, the tetrarch of Galilee, a local ruler installed by the Romans, the son of the infamous Herod the Great.  The earlier Herod fashioned himself a king, a jealous and fearful one.  Three decades before today’s Gospel events, Herod the Great slaughtered many innocent baby boys in and around Bethlehem, as he tried to kill the newborn King of the Jews, whom he feared would take his throne. 

    King Herod is part of a pattern, which includes ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon.  Each of these empires was an enemy and sometimes the overlord of ancient Israel.  Rome acted the same way, feeling compelled to oppose Christ and His Church.  Herod Antipas is a bit player in a struggle that is as old as this fallen world.  In the mysterious wisdom of God, His people will always be living under some earthly power, until the Last Day when Christ returns visibly once again.  This arrangement can be advantageous, as in 313 A+D when Constantine recognized the reality on the ground, and legalized Christianity.  Or, fun calendar coincidence, on this day, December 15^th, in 1791, the day when the Bill of Rights was approved, enshrining religious freedom in the U.S. Constitution. 

   The Church can be blessed through good government.  But there is always a tension between the Church and any earthly government.  There will always arise a desire in earthly powers to control and use the Church for their own ends.  The Church prays for good, just rulers, and even for truly Christian rulers.  At the same time, we are not surprised when earthly powers turn against God and His Truth.  Like John the Baptist did, when earthly authorities turn against the God’s Word and Way, we are called to speak the Truth of Christ, come what may. 

   John the Baptizer got in trouble when he condemned the illicit relationship between Herod and Herodias, who was the wife of his brother Phillip.  John wasted away in prison for the sake of not avoiding conflict with the governing authorities, for always speaking the truth.  God grant that we learn such fidelity and courage from John, and from countless martyrs and saints through 2,000 years, who gave up their freedom and often their lives, rather than betray Christ and His precious Word. 

   God calls us to uphold both His Law, which defines what is right and condemns what is wrong, and His wondrous Gospel, which reveals God’s desire and actions to rescue lawbreakers from eternal condemnation.  If upholding God’s Word requires us to say things that bring the ire of the government upon us, so be it.  Rejoice, God be praised, His Truth is marching on.     

   In the Baptizer’s time, the government was firmly in league with the pagan world.  Supporting the worship of national and local deities was a civic duty, whether that God was Zeus, or Athena, the Sun, Moon and Stars, or the Emperor.  Strangely to our ears, early Christians were accused of atheism, because they only worshiped the One true God, not the whole pantheon of idols. 

   Today, the governing authorities are not quite as clearly in league with the idol worshipers.  Although in some jurisdictions, denying the cult of transgenderism can put you at risk of losing your job.  Old fashioned pre-Christian paganism is making something of a comeback, but much more influential are a whole series of belief systems that deny being religions, but seek to enforce their worldview with fanatical fervor.  Try speaking up for marriage as God defines it, or criticize the radical sexual freedom that dominates our popular culture.  Try being a public school teacher who rejects the worldview of scientific materialism.  Even though contemporary evolutionary biology and current origin of the universe studies face serious contradictions and mathematical impossibilities, still, daring to speak against these belief systems can cost you.  

   However, worst of all for John the Baptist and Jesus were their supposed co-religionists.  The Pharisees, the lawyers, experts in the Law of Moses, and the priests: all of them should have been allies of the Forerunner and the Christ.  They more than anyone should have seen how the prophecies from Abraham to Malachi were being fulfilled before their eyes.  But for many of them, their faith had been corrupted with the age-old temptation of works righteousness, the false belief that I by my goodness and works have made myself pleasing to God.  Others had their faith corrupted by seeking the approval of the world, in particular mixing in ideas from Greek thought and religion.  Others simply preferred comfort and power in this life, and found it in alliances with Rome, even if that required compromising God’s Truth. 

   Today it is much the same.  Many of faithful Christianity’s worst opponents are people who claim to be Christian, but reject anything in Biblical teaching that conflicts with the world’s preferences.  So we see people who claim to be Christians endorse giving hormones and disfiguring surgery to try to change boys into girls and girls into boys.  We hear pastors shouting their abortions, and denying that God created the world in six days, or that Jesus’ blood is the only Way of Salvation.  There seems to be no end of friendly fire trained on Biblically faithful Christians, by those who in theory are also Christians.   

   So be it.  We face social and economic pressures, but we do not yet face violent persecution.  We are not being thrown in jail.  We are still free to gather.  We are still free to speak truth, here and in our daily lives.  Although speaking the truth may cost us now and again. 

   But even if God should allow sharper persecution to come into our lives, we know of a better prize, that the world cannot take from us.  For the “Lord your God is in your midst,  a mighty one who will save.”  You have been reborn by faith in Jesus.  You have been washed.  You are forgiven.  You are a child of Wisdom.  The Lord rejoices over you with a song.  We have gathered here this morning to declare that God is just, because He has gathered us to declare that we are just, justified by the forgiving love of Jesus.  And so we rejoice, always, by faith in Jesus Christ. 

Let us pray:  Holy Spirit of the Coming Christ, drive out fear from our hearts, and fix our eyes on Jesus, who is our Wisdom, our Righteousness, and our Holiness.  As the Son of God has come and won forgiveness for all the sins of every sinner, strengthen us by Your Word, that we resist the temptations and pressures of the world.  Fill us with joy that we are children of God the Father, through Jesus His Son.  Let our rejoicing be seen in our lives, that other sinners may see our hope, and seek its Source, which is Jesus Christ, the Savior of Sinners, who reigns with You and the Father, One God, now, and forever and ever, Amen.