Listening to Mary - Sermon for the 4th Sunday in Advent

Fourth Sunday of Advent
December 21^st, Year of Our + Lord 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
Listening to Mary     Luke 1:39-56

Audio of this sermon is available HERE.

     Listen to Mary, as she teaches us about her Savior, and yours.  Proclaiming the child in her womb to be the fulfillment of God’s ancient promises, Mary rejoices in the stupendous good news that the Lord has done all these things, for her!  “The Mighty One has done great things for me.  My spirit rejoices in God, my Savior.”  The fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and all the fathers of old is delivered to Mary, and to all who trust in the tender mercies of the Holy One, the Lord God almighty.  Mary rejoices and sings because that Holy One, the Lord God, has taken on human flesh, and humbled Himself to be growing in her womb, in order to bless and lift up all the humble offspring of Abraham, all who share His faith in the Promised Seed.  The Seed of the woman, who grew in Mary’s womb, come to crush the ancient serpent’s head.

     Listen to how Mary’s Song is firmly grounded in God’s Holy Word.  Go check out 1^st Samuel, chapter 2, and you will see that Mary’s song finds its roots in the joyful song of another mother, Hannah, who for years had been unable to conceive.  But the Lord heard her prayers, and she gave birth to Samuel, the great prophet and leader of Israel, who would anoint Saul to be king of Israel.  Then, after Saul’s fall from grace, Samuel anointed David to be king, a man after God’s own heart.  Mary’s song builds on Hannah’s, and surpasses it, because her pregnancy is a far greater miracle.  For her Son is the greatest leader, the greatest prophet, the greatest gift God has ever given to mankind.

    Sadly, frustratingly, Christians have always struggled to understand Mary correctly.  Most blessed among women indeed, as her cousin Elizabeth sang, for being chosen to give birth to Jesus.  We do not ignore Mary, but celebrate her and give thanks to God for using her to deliver to us our Savior. 

   But Mary is not a sinless mediator between common Christians and God, nor a source of super-abundant good works that she can share with sinners, and so help them work their way into God’s favor.  Mary is not the proper object of Christian prayers.  No, rather she is a prime example of a faithful, forgiven sinner, who trusts completely in the promises of God. 

   This is what the Bible teaches us about Mary.  Don’t listen to any other voice that tells you differently.  For all of misunderstandings and misconstruals of Mary’s place in the work of salvation come from the same source, the failure to listen closely to God’s Word.  Already during Jesus’ earthly ministry, a woman in the crowd, amazed at His teaching and miracles, cried out: “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which you nursed.”  Jesus gently corrects and redirects this praise: “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”  (Luke 11:27-28).  Which is what His mother Mary did; she knew and stuck to the Word.  Because it is such Good News!  Mary rejoiced and sang “Magnificat,” because she knew that God had taken onto His own shoulders 100% of the work of salvation, in order to grant it as a free gift to all, through faith in Her Son, the only mediator between God and man. 

    A good way to think about Mary and her unique and wonderful role is as a temporary Temple of God.  The Temple of Israel, first the tent temple, the moveable Tabernacle Moses built in the wilderness, and then the great stone and cedar temple of Solomon, these both were the dwelling place of God with His people.  God’s promise to be present, to dwell with His people, was first fulfilled inside the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, and then again the hidden center space of the Temple, where the glory of the Lord descended, in order to bless His people.  God’s glory was veiled there, hidden away, necessarily, because the direct glory of God is death to sinners. 

     Israel never handled the presence of God in His Temple very well, not for very long.  Trusting in God’s real presence and acting accordingly, in their worship and in their lives, was always a big problem, a recurring failure, for Israel.  God even allowed the enemies of Israel to desecrate the Tabernacle and Temple again and again, because Israel’s faithlessness was the real desecration that God wanted to wipe out.  But the Lord always restored the Temple, eventually, despite Israel’s sins, because He had made a promise.   God had promised to dwell with and rescue His people, despite their unfaithfulness.  The Temple in Jerusalem would not be abandoned completely until after the New Temple was established. 

     After the angel Gabriel’s visit to Mary, after her miraculous conception of the Son of God, now there was for nine months a new Temple, a new, and better dwelling place of God with Israel, hidden within the womb of Mary.  Most blessed of all women indeed!  Mary was the flesh and blood Temple of God, the Temple with a voice and a song.  A new Holy of Holies, inside this young woman, chosen by God to serve in this absolutely unique way, enduring the doubts and whispered accusations of family and neighbors, pondering the Word Gabriel had spoken, carrying her Savior for nine months. 

    After the first Christmas, Mary was no longer the Temple of God, but rather a worshiper at the True Temple, found at the feet of her Son.  She and Joseph fulfilled new roles after Jesus’ birth, as guardians of the New Temple, protectors, caretakers of the true and eternal dwelling place of God with mankind, in the flesh of their little boy, God’s Son, Jesus.  They watched and cared as He grew into His calling, to be the Savior of Israel, and Savior of the world.  Mary marveled at the worship of the shepherds and magi, and with Joseph she fled to Egypt, as Satan drove mad King Herod to seek to destroy her Child.  Joseph and Mary would lose track of twelve-year-old Jesus, spending three three-days searching Jerusalem for the Boy, who had of course remained behind in His Father’s house to speak with the wise men of Israel. 

     Many times, Satan sought to destroy Mary’s Son.  Throughout His life and ministry, He faced opposition and threats that Mary suffered to watch.  But the destruction of Jesus would not take place until the Lord determined it was time. 

    Listen to Mary, as her role in the salvation story shifted to that of a faithful follower, and to a wise friend to other sinners.  Listen as she teaches other sons of Abraham how to walk the pilgrimage of faith in Jesus.  At the wedding of Cana, as the wine ran out, she asks Jesus to bless the newlyweds.  Then she tells the servants, the deacons at the banquet, to “do whatever [Jesus] tells you,” (John 2:5).  They did, and miraculous bounty and blessing and joy and faith resulted.  Her advice to those servants remains faithful and true for us, today.  Listen to Mary, and so seek to do whatever her Son tells you to do.   

   And then, Mary’s Scriptural voice goes silent.  She is still Jesus’ beloved mother.  She is a faithful disciple.  She suffers a unique sorrow, a sword passing through her own soul as she watched her Son suffer and die.  No doubt prayers and lamentations and many words of wisdom passed over her lips.  But the Holy Spirit never led another New Testament writer to record any more of her words.  The few sentences and the glorious song she contributed to the Gospels was sufficient.  All along, Mary remained faithful, and so was blessed to see the Resurrection and the birth of Christ’s Church at Pentecost.  Rejoice always, with Mary, magnify the Lord, for her Son, her Savior, is your Savior, just the same.   

     Mary’s Song, the exultant voice of faith in Jesus and His forgiving love, should always be the voice of the New Temple, the New Israel, the Church of God.  Yes, in a very great mystery, the next iteration of the dwelling place of God with His people is you, you and every Christian.  You, the baptized believers in Christ, are being built up as a house of living stones, the New Israel, the New Temple, built on the foundation of the Apostles’, who have written down the teaching of Christ for us, (1^st Peter 2:4-7, Ephesians 2:10-22).  Indeed, by faith in Jesus, you yourself are a Temple of the Holy Spirit, (1 Corinthians 6:19), God Himself present within you to guide and guard and save.  As Mary was a temporary flesh and blood Temple for God, a Temple with a human voice, and as Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Father’s very best message to sinners, so also we, the Church of God, collectively the Bride of Christ, we too have a voice, a song to sing, a rejoicing that should never end, because God’s mercy, the saving sacrifice of Christ, has no end, no limit. 

    In this New Temple, this earthly dwelling place of God wherever His faithful people are, the theme of Mary’s Song predominates.  As Luther declared in the Large Catechism:

“Everything, therefore, in the Christian Church is ordered toward this goal: that we shall daily receive in the Church nothing but the forgiveness of sin through the Word and signs, to comfort and encourage our consciences as long as we live here.

   So, even though we have sins, the grace of the Holy Spirit does not allow them to harm us.  For we are in the Christian Church, where there is nothing but continuous, uninterrupted forgiveness of sin, both in that God forgives us, and in that we forgive, bear with, and help each other.”

     Grace is to abound in the Church.  To be sure, as was true for Mary and every believer in all of human history since the Fall, the Truth of God’s hatred of sin, the proclamation of the Law, is necessary as well, to keep us mindful of our need, and of the just condemnation we deserve for our sins and our sinfulness.  The Law of God is also necessary and useful for increasing discipline, right living, Christian good works.  Just as we would not know what it is to covet unless the law declared: Do not covet, so also we do not know how to love, except that the Holy Spirit in His Law teaches us, in general and in detail, how we are to love God and neighbor. 

    The Law of God is needful, to bring sinners into Christ’s Church, to keep believers firmly mortared into the wall of living stones, and to show us the good works that the Father has prepared for us, and desires to rejoice over.  And so, in every facet of Christian life, in all teaching and practice of the Church, the Law serves the Gospel, the Good News, the Word of Grace and forgiveness.  Forgiving love is the beating heart of the Church, and of each believer.  Grace is the motor without which, we can do no good thing.  So, as we listen to Mary, and as we listen to each other, as the various living Temples of the Lord exercise their voice, mercy and rejoicing rightly predominate.  God grant us always to hear and sing out this joyful song! 

    On Thursday I drove to Sidney, Montana, to listen to the Church, to the cries of Trinity and St. John Lutheran Churches, the place of my first call into the Holy Ministry.  I traveled north to listen to the lamentations of the faithful who share Mary’s faith in Jesus, but who, for far too long, had not been hearing a Word of grace, so they could rejoice with her.  A pastor’s calling is to be the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit, speaking the Truth of Christ, always seeking to reach the joy of delivering the life-giving Gospel, the Good News of free and full forgiveness, won for all by Jesus on His Cross.  This is the forgiveness that is to be distributed daily in the Church through the Word and Signs, that is, the Preaching and the Sacraments.  Everything a pastor does, and all that a congregation does together, should be ordered to this holy and precious goal, because this is the will of God for His people.  God wants to deliver grace and joy to the little Holy Temples of the Spirit that He makes each believer to be, through the washing of water and the word. 

    I do not understand how the Good News of free forgiveness fell by the wayside in Sidney and Fairview.  I know that in my flesh, I could fall into similar errors.  I know that there were sin and error on all sides, for the souls I listened to at Trinity on Thursday evening all confessed the same, and the anger and lack of love on the part of their former pastor is recorded and posted for all to see on the internet.  I do not recommend you seek it out, it is very hard to watch, and will not be good for your soul.  Let my description serve as sufficient warning. 

    In Sidney and Fairview, a lack of proper balance between the Law and the Gospel, and the twisting of the Law into a hammer to beat God’s people, combined to cause, despite years of efforts by many people and pastors, a heart-breaking and ugly resignation of the pastor from the pulpit, last Sunday.  The resignation came with bitter accusations and denunciations of the flock he was supposed to be serving with the Gospel.  Lord have mercy, and grant repentance, forgiveness and healing to all involved.     

    I went to Sidney to listen to my friends that I left eleven years ago, and also to new members, all hurting and starving for the Gospel.  The Montana District President, my dear friend and faithful pastor, Ryan Wendt, had organized a joint service for Trinity and St John, bringing along eight pastors and two vicars, along with many members from surrounding congregations.  We all gathered to bear the burdens of fellow Christians, and to receive the forgiveness of sins through the Word and Signs.  I was privileged to help with the service, including Confession and Absolution and celebrating the Lord’s Supper.  Many tears were shed at the rail, both cathartic tears over past sorrows, and tears of joy as the Lord made Himself present yet again with His people, to deliver forgiveness, life and salvation into our mouths and hearts. 

    Why do I share this sad story with you?  First and foremost, to educate and edify you again concerning what the Church is and what we are always to be about.  District Presidents and Circuit Visitors can and do try their best to walk together with every pastor and congregation in their care, encouraging and admonishing all to be faithful to God’s Truth, His Law and Gospel, so that grace and forgiveness can predominate.  But they can’t see everything or be everywhere.  You, the hearers, are realistically the first line of defense against a preacher who loses his way.  And every preacher is a sinner who can lose his way.  Part of the reason to know the Small Catechism and the whole Bible is so that if, God forbid, this preacher or any other preacher begins to twist God’s Word, you will know and be equipped to ask the needed questions.  And those questions must be answered from the Word of God, not hand-waved away or rejected under the guise of a false understanding of “pastoral authority.” 

    You do, when you call a pastor, give Him an authority to exercise, Christ’s authority, to teach His Truth, to confront sin, and even from time to time to bind the sins of the unrepentant.  But the goal of all ministry is always the same: that sinners would be turned by the Holy Spirit and receive the forgiveness that Jesus has won for all sin.  Every member has a calling to support this most precious and noble goal, with prayer, and humble questions, and a firm commitment to God’s Truth, which always aims at love.  

   When the beautiful song of Christ’s Church, the Song of Mary, the Song of Salvation, is denied, to some or all of God’s people, great hurt and ugliness are always the result.  So, read your Bible, know your Catechism.  Pray for your pastor and your congregation, and trust.  Trust in the One who took up our flesh and became our loving Big Brother.  Trust in the One who sustained Mary through her difficult service.  Trust in the One who turned Paul from persecutor of Christians into a preacher of the Gospel and His greatest Missionary. 

   I also tell you this story to encourage you.  God is faithful.  Though we may pass through dark nights of the soul, struggles that feel like walking through the valley of the shadow of death, your Savior, your Good Shepherd, will not give up on you.

   Trust the One who fled to Egypt with Joseph and Mary, so that in God’s perfect timing, He could instead die on a Roman Cross, in order that we sinners not die forever. 

   Trust in the One who comes to you and all the gathered members of His Body, encouraging and building us up with His Word and Spirit, feeding us with His own Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of all our sins, the Good News that we are privileged to eat and drink. 

   Trust, and rejoice always.  I will say it again, rejoice!  Rejoice that Mary’s Savior and yours will not leave you or forsake you, not today, not ever. 

   And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, today, and forever and ever, Amen. 

 

      

Rejoice in the Lord Always - Four Foundational Practices for Increasing Joy

Third Sunday in Advent, December 14th, 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior's Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota

There is no manuscript this week, when we reviewed the two guides below.  

You can listen to the sermon HERE

Rejoice in the Lord Always - Four Foundational Practices

for Training in Righteousness and Increasing Joy

(One Weekly and Three Daily)

 

1. Attend Church Weekly; 2. Read the Bible Daily; 3. Examine Yourself Daily; 4. Pray Daily.

 

1)    Attend the Services of God at Your Congregation Every Week, ideally every Sunday.

     Weekly worship is God’s rhythm built into the Creation, prior to the Fall, when God rested on the Seventh Day and sanctified it.  In Exodus 20:8-10, the Lord codifies the Seventh Day as the day of rest and worship for Israel, the Sabbath.  This Sabbath requirement was fulfilled by Christ on Holy Saturday as His body rested in the tomb.  The New Testament Church was free to worship on any day, and chose the first day of the week, (see Acts 20:7) because that is when Jesus rose from the dead, but maintaining the pattern of weekly congregational worship.  See also Hebrews 10:23-25.      

     The Church and her ministers have always been cognizant of the reality that sometimes attending Sunday worship is a challenge for some members.  So, other regular and occasional opportunities to gather are offered.  Try to make Sunday work, but if you cannot, speak to your pastor about other options.  

           

2)    Receive God’s Word Daily: Read or hear a significant section of the Bible every day.

     He who is of God hears the Words of God.  (John 8:47)  Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossians 3:16)  Receive the implanted Word, which is able to save your soul. (James 1:21)

     For 1,600 years after Pentecost, the only way for the great majority of Christians to have the Word of God in their daily life was to memorize passages they heard in congregational worship.  This is still an excellent practice.  But we who are blessed to own Bibles, including electronic versions on our devices, can and should take advantage of this great blessing.  Your ears have been opened to the Truth of God by the Holy Spirit.  So, keep them filled with the Word, so that the lies of Satan and the world do not fill your mind and heart. 

Plans and Resources for Reading or Hearing God’s Word

Portals of Prayer:  Use “Portals of Prayer” for yourself or with your family.  Only be sure to use it well.  Set your reading within the brief order of prayer that is in the front of the booklet.  Look up and read the full suggested passages, not just the verse at the top of each page. 

     Also, consider adding one additional Psalm each day to your Portals habit.  (Split your reading of Psalm 119 into its 22 eight-verse sections.)  This will take you through all the Psalms twice each year.   

                                   

Sunday Insert Devotion - Lectionary Repetition:  Use the devotional plan built into our weekly Readings Insert.  This practice anchors your weekly devotions to the readings and rhythm of our Sunday worship: Monday through Wednesday looking back and reviewing last Sunday’s readings, Thursday through Saturday looking forward to next Sunday. 

 

Treasury of Daily Prayer:   (Or the LSB Daily Lectionary, see below)  Consider purchasing the Treasury of Daily Prayer, (TDP).  TDP follows the liturgical calendar, giving two readings, one Old Testament and one New Testament, each day, along with prayers, hymn stanzas and brief writings from the entire history of the Church, all in one volume.  In a year with TDP, you will read almost all of the New Testament, and part of every book in the Bible. 

     There is a digital version of TDP, available in the CPH app “InPrayer.”  You can also simply use the reading calendar of TDP, which begins on page 299 of our LSB hymnal, (Daily Lectionary). 

 

Year through the Bible:  To help those who want to take the challenge of reading the entire Bible in one year, Pastor Warner has a reading plan that helps you make it through by alternating between Old Testament and New Testament readings.  It also offers a Psalm or Biblical Canticle each day. 

 

“Beginning With Moses” YouTube channel:  Pastor Gary Schulte of Zion, Rapid City, is posting short YouTube videos that will take you through the whole Bible, 10 minutes per day, with faithful and helpful interpretation along the way.  If reading for yourself is difficult, but you use YouTube, this could be the option for you. 

 

3)    Examine Yourself Daily

     Use God’s Word to honestly consider your own Christian walk.  Resources include the Ten Commandments, or the Table of Duties in the Small Catechism,  (LSB 321 and 328, or in your Small Catechism), or perhaps some word of instruction or command from your daily reading.  Self-examination will help you uncover sins and bad habits, so you can confess them to your heavenly Father and be forgiven and restored.  It will also teach you how to shape your life to make better choices moving forward.    

    Keep your self-examination brief, and use it to move into prayer, so that you do not allow your sins to beat you up excessively.  God wants to hear your confession, so He can forgive you and build you up for Christian living, not to make you depressed about your faults.  Do deal with honestly with yourself, but then pray for the Lord’s mercy.  He will give it! 

 

4)    Pray to your Heavenly Father Daily:

     Keep your prayers simple, especially if you are just beginning to add them to your day.  A simple pattern of prayer maintained is better than an intricate pattern that you cannot keep up.  Use the orders offered in Portals, or TDP, or simply follow your own.   

     Include the Lord’s Prayer every day!  Pray the Psalms, they are Christ’s prayers, for you to use. Using written prayers from the Church of centuries past, and also praying from your heart, speak to your heavenly Father as His dear child.  The Small Catechism offers a simple way to pray, (LSB 327).  There also written prayers to use on pages 305-318 of LSB.  Most of the Psalms are in the front of LSB

     The acronym ACTS can also help you shape your prayers. Your prayers can include Adoration of God for Who He is and all He does for us; Confession, acknowledging the Truth of God’s Word, your belief in it, and your admission of the sins you have committed; Thanksgiving expressed to the Lord for all His benefits; Supplication, asking God for specific needs, for yourself, your loved ones, your congregation, your neighbors, the nation, and for the world.    

     On page 294 of LSB there is a list of different prayer themes for each day of the week, which can help shape your prayers.  On LSB 295-298 you will find simple orders of prayer for different times of the day.   

 Guide referenced at the beginning of the sermon:

Cheerful Giving Annual Reflection Guide

God loves a cheerful giver.  (2^nd Corinthians 9:7)

            Whether we mean giving of our money, our time, our energy, or our kindness, all of us struggle from time to time to give cheerfully.  This is a sad reality that comes with living in this fallen world, as a believer who is still a sinner. (Romans 7:7-25)

            The Gospel of free forgiveness in Jesus Christ is ultimately the source of our Christian cheerfulness, in particular in relation to sharing our material goods. (Luke 19:1-10, John 20:24-31)

            So, to become a cheerful steward, be filled with the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto Salvation.  The Good News of Christ crucified and resurrected for the forgiveness of sins changes you, and the more you get, the more the Spirit works on you.  So let the Gospel shape you, for your salvation, and for joy in living.  (Colossians 3:12-17, Philippians 2:1-13, John 3:13-18, 1 John 1:1-2:2)

Stewards of the Gospel

            It is a privilege to participate in the Stewardship of the Gospel, by confessing Christ to your family, friends and neighbors in your daily life, and by participating and supporting Christ’s Word and Sacrament Ministry, in your local congregation and beyond.  (Mark 5:19, [5:1-20 for context], 1 Peter 3:15, 1 Peter 4:7-11, Acts 17:10-12, 2^nd Corinthians 8:1-5)

            One important part of our Christian Stewardship is our support of the ministry of our own congregation with our time, abilities and financial resources.  The Gospel goes forth from our congregation through the support of the members of our congregation.   

            Satan can make us miserable if we don’t have a plan for our financial giving, as well as our service in the congregation.  If we are considering week after week how much we should donate, or how much we should take on to do, all the cheerfulness will most likely be sucked out of our giving. (1 Peter 5:8)

A Good Habit for Your Financial Stewardship

    One way to approach you or your household’s financial stewardship is to intentionally and deliberately consider and pray about how much you would like to give in the coming year. 

            The goal is to make a decision we can live with, and then to do that, without returning again and        again to the question. 

Live with the decision, and don’t think about how much you want to give or volunteer until next year. 

            The only reasons to reconsider midyear would be a significant change in your economic        situation, (whether an increase or decrease in your finances and income),

            or a significant financial challenge at church.

How to:  Over the next two or three weeks, read and re-read the references in this document and other favorite Gospel stories that come to mind. (The Christmas story and the Good Friday-Easter story would be great to include: Matthew 1:18-25 and 26:17-28:20, Luke 2:1-21, John 1:1-18 and 18:1- 20:31)

                                                                                                            (continued on the reverse) 

Consider, and discuss within your household as appropriate, the richness of God’s grace toward you, based on these texts, and on your particular situation.

   As you consider God’s grace toward you, also take a realistic view of your financial situation and your work and life schedule. 

Do you expect to have more or less income next year?   Do you expect to have more or less time available next year?  Are you satisfied with your level of busy-ness, or do you want to take steps to gain better control of your schedule?    

                        What about your financial expenses?  Do you expect them to go up or down?   

                        How much were you able to donate to the Church last year?   How much time did you give

to serve in the congregation? 

                        Did this give you joy? 

Consider whether you want to volunteer to serve more in your congregation, or whether you need to scale back. 

            Consider some possible levels of financial giving , on either a weekly or monthly basis. 

                        What amount seems possible?                        What makes you cheerful? 

Pray every day throughout this process, asking the Holy Spirit to help you reach the right decision. 

Make a decision for your giving in the next year.  Write it down here:

            For the year ____________, I/we, prayerfully intend to support the ministry of my     congregation as follows: 

Service in Congregation:  List current and new areas you will seek to serve.

  _______________________________________________________________ .

                        Giving Frequency:  (circle one)  Monthly   Weekly            Other _________.

                        Giving amount:  _________ (amount per period)

                                    for an annual total of: _________.

                        We      do / do not     (circle one) expect to also be able to support other ministry                                                 and mission opportunities as the opportunity arises.

Once made, set your financial decision aside.  Unless your economic situation changes significantly mid-year, (for the better or for the worse), don’t debate your giving plan anymore.  Let this be your God given cheerful number for next year.  According to His grace, He will help you meet it.  

This is intended as a private matter.  You shouldn’t feel any obligation to share it with anyone outside your household. 

Now, go into the New Year with hope, joy and confidence that the Lord will continue to bless you, and your congregation, and through both, the world.    

Second Sunday in Advent, December 7^th, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
The Lord of Fire                   Malachi 4:1-6

Audio of the Sermon available HERE.

     Our God is a consuming fire, (Hebrews 12:29).  And He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.  (Malachi 4:2)

     What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘fire’?  Depends on how and where it is spoken, no?   “Hey, come sit by the fire with me,” is the warm and coziest of invitations, if the fire burns in the fireplace at Grandma’s house, or in a campfire ring out in the wilderness.  But if you are in an old wooden building or a dry forest, someone shouting ‘fire’ may terrify you.  Staring into the flames with a warm drink in your hands?  Wonderful.  Staring up the hillside as a wildfire races toward you?  Horrible. 

     Our God is a consuming fire, and He always has been.  In the desert, just after their exodus from
Egypt, the Lord came to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. To the eyes of the children of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord on the top of the mountain was like a consuming fire, (Exodus 24:17).  The sight filled them with fear, and soon led them to trade the true glory of God for a golden calf, made by Aaron, a manageable metal god whose presence wasn’t a threat to sinners. 

    The prophet Daniel saw the Ancient of Days, Almighty God, sitting on a fiery throne.  And he saw the one like a Son of Man, whose eyes were like lightning, (Daniel 7 and 10).  On the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus let the glory of heaven, which had always been within His body, shine forth for a few minutes, to help Peter, James and John see the Truth, (Matthew 17).  And, as Malachi prophesied, the Lord will on the Last Day burn the stubble, the chaff, that is, the arrogant and the evil doers.    

 

     The harnessing of electric power, which makes possible our very comfortable lives, also provides us a helpful object lesson to understand what the fiery, electric reality of Almighty God means for us. 

     When we are protected, insulated from the raw power of electricity, remarkable blessings come our way.  Heat your engine block on a sub-zero morning, make a professional espresso on your kitchen counter, decorate your house with lights, watch your favorite football team play a thousand miles away, light the stairway to the basement: electricity under control blesses us in myriad ways.  But we also recognize the danger of uncontrolled electricity: a lightning strike, a smoldering short in a light fixture, a power surge, a live wire dangling from the ceiling in a construction site, a fork stuck in an outlet by a curious child.

      Like electricity, we know that fire is good, as long as it is controlled.  The flame of a candle is a wonder, giving us light and warmth and beauty.  That flame is a gift, until you put your hand over it, and it burns you, inflicting tremendous pain, destroying your flesh.  The same light that enhances life can also destroy.

      Our God is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.  And He always will be.  As the Apostle John says: In the Kingdom of Heaven, there will be no sun or moon, "for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp," (Revelation 21:23).  Which makes sense, because in Jesus is light, the light of Christ, who is the light of the world, (John 8:12 and 9: 5).  We depend on this fire within Christ, because it gives us life.  The life that is in the Word made flesh is the light of men, the true light which shines in the darkness, (John 1:4-5). 

      And this light, this fire, is coming, because the Son of God is coming soon, the "one who has eyes like a flame of fire," (Revelation 2:18).  On the day of His coming, all men will see him, and the eyes of the Son will penetrate all, revealing hearts and unveiling God’s righteous judgment.  Therefore, the Day of the Lord, when Jesus comes to us riding on the clouds, will be a day of fire.  On that day we see Him as He is, in His unveiled glory.  The Lord of Fire will be visible, even touchable, if one can endure it.

      So, will the coming of the Lord of Fire be a good day?  

      We do not want to burn up like straw, or the chaff after the harvest, dry and fit for nothing, except to be consumed.  The arrogant and the wicked will burn.  Which rightly teaches Christians to flee from sin.  The consequences of sin in our daily lives are bad enough, but to face the angry fire of God?  No thank you.   

      The Lord is coming, visibly, one more time.  So, as you wisely flee from sin, also be sure to approach the Lord of Fire now, while you can do so safely.  Many wait, they choose not to draw near, out of ignorance or laziness, wickedness or fear.  All who wait and do not draw near in this age will on the Last Day face the uncontrolled divine fire, which no sinner can bear.  Do not wait, do not delay.  Draw near.  

      Approach the Lord of Fire now, while His burning power is a blessing to you, a forgiving and purifying fire that calms your conscience and restores you by His grace.  Approach the Lord of Fire now, to be renewed in His salvation, day by day.  Then you will go out rejoicing in the sunrise of His light, jumping like calves set free from their stalls, celebrating the life-giving warmth of His love.

      And you know where, and how you can safely approach the Lord of Fire, the Sun of Righteousness.  You go to the places where He has already drawn near to you.  John the Baptist promised that the Christ would come to you and would baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  It makes sense that God uses water, united to His powerful Word, to protect us from the destructive power of the divine fire.  Baptism with water protects us because God uses it to unite us to Christ’s baptism by fire.  As Jesus exclaimed as He was on his way to Jerusalem to face the flames: "I came to cast fire on the earth; and how I wish it was already cast down!  But with a baptism I must be baptized, and how distressed I am until it is fulfilled! " (Luke 12: 49-50)

      Jesus’ baptism by fire has been fulfilled.  It is finished, for you. Our protection against the flames of judgment is the Cross of Jesus.  

  

     You all probably know that firefighters carry fire shelters, aluminum and fiber cocoons in which to
hide themselves as a last resort if a wildfire comes too close.  They are quite effective; according to the National Wildfire Coordinating Group, through 2022 fire shelters have been deployed over 1,300 times in this country, and only 41 deaths have occurred.[1]  That’s an impressive success rate.

       The Body of the risen Christ is our spiritual fireproof shelter, and His success rate is 100%.  All who find refuge in Him live forever, even though they die.  By your faith in Jesus, by your Baptism, by His Supper, by the power of His Word, you are in Christ, and He is in you.  In Christ, the fire of the Last Judgment cannot threaten you.  The Holy Spirit has clothed you in the righteousness of God, won for you by God’s Son.  So be wise, approach His saving flame, every day.  Rejoice in His light, which illumines your path, day by day, and forever and ever. 

      If you wander from His Way and the flames of sin singe your robes and you sense the heat of God’s displeasure, give thanks for the Holy Spirit’s warning, and repent.  Turn from temptation and sin, return to the path, get back under your Savior’s healing wings, for the forgiveness of your sins, and for your renewal. 

      Veteran firefighters know the dangers of their work, and are wise to train continually, so they are prepared when the fire comes.  If someone new and untrained joins the firefighting effort, the veterans drill into these newbies both the basics and the finer details of the job, especially how to stay safe, including how to use the fire shelter.   

       Because of what Christ has done for you, because of what the Spirit has taught you about sin and grace and life and death and eternity, you are a veteran Christian, refined by God’s fire.  So, like a good firefighter, be wise to keep training yourself in righteousness, to keep growing in the Word and applying it in your daily life. 

      How does this work?  Training in righteousness is pretty simple to describe, but difficult to do, especially in our day, when we are trained to organize our lives around comfort and entertainment.  For the sinner that remains in each of us, pursuing righteousness is uncomfortable.  But as saints, for the child of God we have been re-created to be, it is also joyful and fulfilling. 

      Since it is from God, training in righteousness is powered, informed and judged by His Word.  And we will use His Word to examine ourselves.  We know God’s revealed will for our lives, that we should love Him with our whole heart, soul and strength, and love our neighbors as ourselves.  How are we doing?  We can get more detailed instruction, by working our way through the Ten Commandments, using them to honestly and seriously consider our daily walk. 

      As I consider my life through the various roles and relationships, the vocations the Lord has given me to fulfill, the commandments will help me know what I am to do, how I am to prioritize my time and energy.  I am a pastor, a husband, brother, father and grandfather.  I have neighbors on my street.  Does my conversation with and service to all the people I meet in my vocations communicate that I am a Christian? 

      Such an exercise will keep me humble, pointing out my shortcomings, my sins, turning me back to the Lord and His Way.  It will also make obvious my ongoing need to be renewed and formed by the Spirit.  Even more than self-examination, training in righteousness involves receiving the Gospel of God, through our eyes and ears and into our heart.  We need the condemning, correcting and guiding word of the Law, yes.  Even more we daily need the Good News of God’s salvation, of His love and grace toward sinners.  Thus the Spirit by His living and active Word will be working on us, shaping us, changing us.  He will also be comforting and forgiving us, leading us to good works, and making us wise.  Wise unto salvation, and also wiser for our earthly walk. 

      As we breathe in God’s Word, we naturally breath out in prayer, speaking to our heavenly Father as dear children, asking God’s mercy and providence, for ourselves, our loved ones, our community, our world. 

      Jesus also calls us to pray for our enemies.  That’s tough.  Especially in this ill-begotten digital age, in which the pursuit of clicks brings every offensive thing, every evil, every blasphemous act before my eyes.  I am tempted to despair.  There are so many of “them,” people who seem opposed to everything I believe is good and right, people I am tempted to hate and disparage.  Healing our culture seems hopeless.  But true hopelessness is to not believe that the Lord can do anything to help. 

      In the face of such despair, I do know one thing God has called me to do.  Even though I oppose the agenda and reject the goals of the ungodly, and even as I am called to uphold God’s truth, I am also called to pray for “them,” for those whom I see as enemies.  I am to continually ask the Lord of the harvest to draw them to Himself, to make them His children, and our brothers and sisters.  It is hard to hate a soul you are praying for.  And that is God’s will for you.       

      We are called to pursue righteousness, to drink deeply from the spring of God’s Word, and let it occupy the center of our lives.  Wherever you are in your pursuit of righteousness, consider doing just a bit more.  It will be good.  Not easy, but good.  Do it for yourself, and for your brothers and sisters in Christ, to mutually encourage and teach each other.  And do it for the newbies, and potential newbies, for those souls around you who will also face the fire, but don’t yet know the One true Rescuer, our spiritual fire shelter, Jesus Christ.  They may not realize they need to be protected from the fire.  But you know.  This knowledge should not puff up your pride.  Rather, the way that God in His grace has and continues to rescue you and me should keep us humble, and lead us to deal with others with the same patience and mercy God has shown to us.  We are led to speak of and imitate Christ, always with gentleness and respect. 

      This is what Jesus means in the Sermon on the Mount, when He declares: Let your light so shine before men, so they see your good works, and glorify your Father, who is in heaven,  (Matthew 5:16).  No one can truly glorify God the Father, except through faith in His Son.  And so the light of your faith is used by the Holy Spirit as He saves souls. 

      Stay under the healing wings of Jesus, for there you are safe from the divine fire that destroys all that is wicked.  This is the gift of Christ for you.  And, when you are under the healing wings of Jesus, trusting in your heavenly fire shelter, you are also a useful light for God’s work, His Mission.  Through you and all His children, the Lord shines the light of His truth, for all to see, that many more would be refined, restored and protected for eternal life, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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[1] https://www.nwcg.gov/publications/pms411/fire-shelter-history