The Word for You (Sermon for Christmas Day)

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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I was going to tell you something but I forgot what it was.

I was going to tell you something, but I was afraid you would be offended.

I was going to tell you something, but I didn’t have time.

I was going to tell you something, but I could not find the words.
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It is characteristic of your fallen flesh that you forget what you were going to say; that you fear the feelings and opinions that might result from your speech; that you are subject to spans of time that never seem to be enough to get things done, whether it is Christmas shopping, saying “thank you,” or even saying “goodbye;” that even when the thought is there, the words just cannot be found to express them.

Thoughts and words come and go. They appear and disappear as randomly and quickly as waves of water that land on the beach, crash on the rocks and fade into oblivion. Though they may be remembered after they are spoken, they cannot be retrieved and put in their proper place.

Where do thoughts come from anyway? Do words come from thoughts, or do thoughts come from words? Which comes first?

The Word become Flesh does not ask these questions. Not so for Him Who was in the beginning, by Whom all things were made, Who was in the beginning with God. Not so for Him Through Whom all things came into being, apart from Whom nothing came into being that has come into being.

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"I was going to tell you something but I forgot what it was."

Your Father in heaven does not forget, but He remembers and He speaks in mercy, for it is written:

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of David His servant—
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old—
Salvation FROM OUR ENEMIES, And FROM THE HAND OF ALL WHO HATE US;
To show mercy toward our fathers, And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to Abraham our father,
To grant us that we, being rescued from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

All of this is fulfilled in the Word mad Flesh, the Christ. Whose birth, begotten from eternity, we celebrate this day.

Your Father in heaven does not want this gift for you to go unnoticed. So he sent His prophets from ages past. He sent His holy angels to the Shepherds, just doing their jobs.

He sent John the Baptist to point the finger in the wilderness and cry out: “Behold! The Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.” He sent his Holy Evangelist, St. John, to write down so plainly yet so profoundly that which has sounded into your ears yet again this morn: how He who has no genealogy to speak of took upon Himself your genealogy of sin and death in exchange for His life.

He has it all written down and promised even from before the moment Adam and Eve traded their glory for a life of sorrow, labor, fear, and anxiety.

He sends His Pastors, so that the same Word may sound out into your ears; so that the same repentance and faith, life and salvation, be joined to you to raise you up at the Last Day.

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"I was going to tell you something, but I was afraid you would be offended."

Your Father in heaven is not afraid of offending by way of his words, for every word of His is aimed at saving poor sinners. He does not withhold the full, straight, sharp shock of His Law, which declares unequivocally; without regard to wealth, age, social status, or dreams – For there is no partiality with God, Who will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

“You shall have no other gods before Me,” He says. That includes the Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle, because eternal damnation is not just a matter of shooting your eye out, kid; because The guillotine, Hanging, The chair, The rack, and The Chinese water torture are mere child's play compared to what surely awaits those who cherish this world without consideration for the world to come.

He says: “If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell."

He says: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

He says: “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

And He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.”

Your Father in heaven, through the Word become flesh, lays these things out plainly for you. He exposes your false allegiances. He lays bare your iniquity. He does not mince words in declaring Who He is and what He does, both in regard to the Law as given through Moses; and the grace and truth realized through Jesus Christ.

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"I was going to tell you something, but I didn’t have time."

Your Father in heaven does not run out of time when it comes to dealing with you in love. This is He Who was in the beginning; whose grace extends from before the first Christmas until the last Christmas is celebrated as the old creation passes away and the new creation assumes the fullness intended for it from the beginning.

What has been in the heart of God from the very beginning now sees its fullest expression in this Babe in a manger, so humble and weak and small; the very face of God now shown before they eyes of men, so that they might behold His glory. Glory sent not to put on a display of might and power, but to be crucified, dead, and buried, and risen from the dead after making atonement for the sin of the world.

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

As God the Father Almighty enters into time through the flesh of His Son, He has taken time to deal with all of creation, so that your time, your days, and all that you are is sanctified, made holy in this Christ Jesus.

While you may feel as if you run from one short time span to the next, with barely the time to think back on an entire life of rising and setting suns, Your Father in heaven has worked out your salvation and set before you a path of righteousness for His Names’ sake, in which you are made to walk by faith; not by sight.

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"I was going to tell you something, but I could not find the words."

Your Father in heaven has not only found the words to deal with you in love, but as THE WORD, He became bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh to share in your weakness and take you to Himself. All the words necessary to make Himself known, and to tell you His good and gracious will for you and for all people, He has proclaimed by His Holy Spirit, testifying, as does St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, of this One who is given as a light to the world.

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

After all the preparation and anticipation; after all the shopping and wrapping of gifts; after all the crazy, premature celebration sputtered forth for weeks by a world that does not receive patience, and know nothing of Advent let alone repentance, it all comes down to this: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

This is True God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also True Man, born of the Virgin Mary, delivered into your lap, placed before your eyes, sounded into your ears, and yes - even given into your body which will be raised again; with tender loving care for you to receive and rejoice over.

Many gifts throughout the ages have been purchased, prepared, and delivered between one person and the next, but this gift was most carefully prepared and delivered to you. This gift is one life in exchange for yours. O how marvelous it is that your are now His, and that He has given you all things in His Son, and placed you into His kingdom to serve gladly despite all that meets your eyes and ears otherwise.

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"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "and I know exactly what it is: I have come down from heaven to bear your sin and iniquity. In this Christ Jesus you have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life."

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "even if it is difficult for you to bear: Behold my Law, from which you cannot save yourself. Behold My Son, Whose righteousness, and true body and blood are given for you."

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "because I have more than time for you. I have eternity for you."

"I am going to tell you something," says your Father in heaven, "and I have no difficulty in finding the words. In my Son, I Am the Word made flesh, Who came to save you from your sins. His righteousness is your righteousness. His obedience is your obedience. His conception is yours. His birth is yours. His cross is yours. His resurrection is yours. All of these are yours, and in Him you have all things, even life everlasting."
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Tender King

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and endowed with salvation,
Humble, and mounted on a donkey,
Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. -Zecharaiah 9:9

This Man on a donkey is just and endowed with salvation, because the flesh of Christ is The Light that encompasses all of creation as it was made in, through, and for Him, out of purest Love for you.

He has taken you up, dear Christian, and has brought you tenderly into His body, the Church, which also is a body of flesh, yet flesh that is raised from the dead and seated in the highest places. This He did in your baptism, this He does for you in His Supper, and this is how He keeps you in the paths of righteousness for His Name's sake.

Yes, cast off the works of darkness. Walk in the Light. Flee immorality by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. Run the race. You are free. Where you are weak, He bears your weakness and deals with you in tender mercy, for He is the Creator Who makes all things new.

This is not some new, special, mystical knowledge that makes you greater than others, dear reader. You sin. He, taking your place, does not. You die. He, taking your place, does not.

You who are baptized into Christ Jesus have His body and are joined to Him. You who believe on His name are greater than he who is in the world, who goads ceaselessly with a pomp and glory that may glitter like gold, but rots like the manure of death.

Yes, even you who come late to the feast with a whole life full of sin and death, for you He has conquered in His body and life.

O LORD Jesus, bless Your pastors and hearers as they abide in Your mercy. O LORD, have mercy upon us. Amen.
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Thanksgiving

It is truly meet, right, and salutary, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks to You, holy LORD, Almighty Father, Everlasting God.

What should a creature, made of dust, do? What should a creature, whose dust came from nothing, say? This creature is you. You are made of dust, and that dust came from nothing by the Word of the LORD. You received the breath of life through that same LORD.

It is hard for you to think about this, because time and the pressures of life have a way of drowning out what is written about you in the Book of Life. But it is most certainly true that all you are, and all you have, came from nothing by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

As the Holy Spirit, Who has drowned you in the waters of Holy Baptism, teaches you the truth about your origin, being, and destination, your heart will do nothing more than rejoice greatly and give thanks at all times.

In case it has escaped you, how much you have received from Above, here is a list of things to consider, as drawn and paraphrased from Johann Gerhard's writings:

Your formation in the womb and birth into this life.
God's constant preservation of your life.
The redemption God provided for you in Christ Jesus.
The incarnation of Christ Jesus for your sake.
The innocent suffering and death of Christ Jesus for you.
That your Father in Heaven called you by the Gospel.
That your Father in heaven shows great patience toward you.
Your conversion from death to life eternal.
A clear conscience through Christ Jesus.
That your Father in heaven keeps you in His grace.
All the blessings of this body and life.
Your baptism into Christ Jesus.
The ongoing benefits of Christ's holy body and blood.
Protection from every evil.
The eternal promise of salvation.

With these things in mind, each of which may be amplified considerably, you may happily endure each moment of each day and its various trials, knowing that all things are done for your good, because you abide in your dear Lord Jesus, for Whom all things were made, Who suffered for you, and suffers with you.

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Timothy

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. -2 Timothy 2:1

Timothy was not St. Paul's son according to the flesh, but because both he and Timothy share the same LORD Jesus Christ Who came in the flesh to save poor sinners, they are related in manner the world overlooks.

In this case the sonship has first of all to do with the Apostle's teaching. It was through the Gospel of salvation, both taught and demonstrated by Paul for Timothy, that Timothy became both a son of Paul, and second of all, a child of God, or son, in Christ Jesus.

There is great endearment here. Such is the case because love abounds where there is forgiveness of sins. That love is no more clearly demonstrated than in the flesh of Christ crucified and risen for the sin of the world.

Here the Apostle enjoins his "son," Timothy, to "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." This strength is not of the sort one would typically count as the world counts strong. Much meekness and outward weakness attends to abiding in Christ Jesus and His grace.

At yet because the grace of God in Christ Jesus preserves both body and soul for the resurrection at The Last Day, it is a source of strength that exceeds the laws of physics as you have come to experience them. It is a strength no earthly power, no matter how great, can overcome.

This grace is in Christ Jesus because it is He who made atonement for sin and rose again from the dead, and then made way for that same atonement and resurrection to be applied bodily to all who believe and are baptized.

He established His Holy Supper that you may regularly participate in His benefits unto eternal life; His holy absolution so that you may regularly hear with your ears the everlasting mercy that has entered into this fallen creation.

You are made strong in the same grace shared by the Apostle Paul and his "son," Timothy. Since you share in the same Christ Jesus as sons, you share in the same resurrection, which is not afar off as some might think, but as near as the Word made Flesh, who dwells with you bodily and in truth.

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Taking Heed

If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. -Luke 17:3b

If only we had an eraser that could rid the Sacred Scriptures of these words, we could be at ease and not even have to think about rebuking anyone, or even noticing how, when, or where they sin. Sin, rebuke, repentance, and forgiveness are all totally alien to this world’s way of thinking.

In the Church, however, the right to privacy is not extolled so much as it is in the world. There is an invasion of privacy intended to draw you away from this world and into the life of the world to come, where true joy is to be found.

A good many have gone about erasing or ignoring the plain and clear words of Christ, even though His sole intent is to win poor sinners to Himself. Together with the sinful nature we carry the burden of Cain who asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

It is not as if sisters are excluded, or as if there is a condition under which your brother will never sin. We are altogether lumped into this condition whereby our obedience as slaves is subject to review and correction. The thought is exceedingly frightening, especially when we consider Who ultimately set the standard of righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

The burden would be too much were it not for the fact that the same One who set the standard and enjoins you to rebuke your brother, is He who obeyed the Law to its most perfect demands. Not only so, but He made payment for both you and your brother by taking upon Himself the punishment deserved by all the sons of disobedience. And if that were not enough, He is joined to you in His very flesh so that He is at work in your to will and to do that which is good.

The Holy Spirit teaches you to deal with your brother in true Love, so that whatever assessments are made on his behalf are in accord with the Truth, and are expressed not in a manner that demeans or brings self-righteousness into the mix, but uplifts and edifies.

Since it is your brother, he is of one mind with you, for your dear Lord says to us together, “Take heed to yourselves.” So together in love we watch out, admonish, build up, and therefore speak up, whenever one of us “goes off the deep end,” as it were. It is simply part and parcel of being joined to Christ Jesus that you do not let your brother go on in sin without speaking up.

Since you have the mind of Christ, He will teach you what to say, how to say it, and when, as you work out your salvation with fear and trembling under the mighty hand of God who has saved you from all that would harm you.
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This Arrangement

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.–Ephesians 4:7

Is the Apostle Paul here speaking of all Christians in general, or to those who hold offices in the Church, like that of Prophet, Apostle, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher?

There is no question whatsoever grace is given to all Christians, else they would not be Christians. The entire Church abides in His mercy from everlasting, all the while enduring tribulation.

But the Apostle Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is teaching you to be mindful of order in the Church, so that we do not become subject to chaos and confusion. There is good reason, for example, why everyone is not a teacher. What a mess we would have if all of us asserted authority and had the same words all at the same time!

There is this glorious arrangement in the Church, even though by all appearance She is frail and weak, that one LORD, one Faith, and one Baptism are applied to poor sinners. This arrangement is Christ’s gift, given according to measure. It is the nature of measurement that all units and quantities are not the same.

Does this surprise you? Does it cause you to take up pride or despair? May it not be so. There are workers in the Vineyard who come early and workers who come late. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. It is all good, for you are the recipient of a New Creation to be received by faith.

Those who labor with Christ’s gift - His gift being His crucified and risen body for the forgiveness of sins - are laboring for you by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, not to assert themselves as better, but because your Father in Heaven is not of a mind to give you a Church confounded and scattered about, but a Church that is the Body of Christ, made of many members of varying measures and qualities, so that grace and peace may be multiplied to you along with His entire creation.
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Tax Collectors and Sinners

When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?” But when Jesus heard this, He said, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.–Matthew 9:11:12

The Great Physician lays to rest any questions or concerns regarding Who He is and what He does. He is the Savior given for poor sinners who are subject to every rack and ruin earned by virtue of natural birth from the flesh of the first Adam.

You’ve seen how the world points at the Church and says: “That’s where the good people go.” You’ve also been subject to programs and teachings that affirm the same notion.

But this is a perversion. The Church is where sick people go, and they remain under Her care because only in the Great Physician may true healing be found, whether it be temporal or eternal.

Matthew had the same sickness you have. His eyes and heart were constantly drawn toward stuff. With lots of stuff comes power and influence. Forgetting that all things are given from Above out of an abundance of grace, Adams’ heirs seize upon the creation and cling to it, using it as not only a way to gain the favor of men, but to flee any thoughts regarding accountability toward the Creator.

But the Creator chose to sit down with this bunch of greedy hoarders and eat with them. Setting aside His glory and majesty, refraining from judgment, being your Father in Heaven, He takes time to meet you; to speak with you; to admonish you. Not only so, but He took the judgment you deserve and absorbed it into His own body on the Cross.

Now raised from the dead to live and rule as your Savior and King, along with Matthew and all the saints, He gently leads you in the paths of righteousness so that you do not make the mistake of clinging to this world’s stuff, but gradually grow in grace. This is His greatest joy and delight.
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Thrusting and Pushing

"Because you push with side and with shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns until you have scattered them abroad, therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. –Ezekiel 34:21-22

What sort of pushing and thrusting is the Prophet Ezekiel referring to here? In short, it is anything and everything in the way of life and instruction that leads away from peace and rest in Christ Jesus.

Obviously the world is one aspect of this, for it knows nothing of divine authority and hankers for your attention, serving as a distraction.

But it is even worse when those who set themselves up as teachers use the Word of God not as a proper source of instruction unto eternal life, but as a bludgeon to turn you inward; as a rule book so that you might comply to an appearance of righteousness, while all the time being robbed of peace in Christ Jesus.

To be sure, pricks of conscience and genuine terrors attend to those who live in the fear of the LORD, but it is your Good Shepherd’s aim to deliver His flock, not to fleece it, terrorize it, grub and grab for attention, and make a show of faith and life.

Look no further than the patient teaching and admonition of Christ Jesus to be relieved from all the anxiety other teachers would like to heap on you, as if to say, “If you pray just this way, and just this often, all will be well,” or, “If you just meditate a little harder and a little longer, you will have peace with God.” This is thrusting and pushing. It is not the way of the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.

No. The peace of God which passes all understanding was delivered smack dab onto your lap and into your body because you are baptized into Him and are now joined to His risen flesh. No only so, but you who have been taught of His Supper know He also strengthens you through the same in faith toward God and in love toward one another.
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Turned from Transgression

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.–I Timothy 1:8-11

There is a significant concurrence on the part of mankind when it comes to good and bad behavior, although in these latter days every effort is made to blur the distinction between right and wrong.

Each and every example from this list of bad behaviors presents self-evident wrongdoing to anyone who has a conscience. It is rare, but not impossible to find someone who “has no conscience,” but even then it is only by appearance, and not in fact, for everyone has a conscience.

This text is read in the Church in connection with the parable of the shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to look for just one, and when he finds it, brings it home with much rejoicing. It is a way of listing out your former life so that you may recognize what you have been rescued from, and know that your dear Savior wants to rescue all from the body of death that would pursue unrighteousness and wickedness to the hilt.

You may want to excuse yourself from this list of wicked behaviors, but it is better to consider it as precisely what your dear Savior came to deal with in His flesh and take away. It is precisely such wickedness that He came to eradicate, first by making payment for its consequence (eternal death), and join Himself in love to those who were once dead in trespasses and sin (eternal life).

The upshot here is that the Law, in the strict sense, is used in its lawful sense when it accuses of sin. In its function as a mirror it is not made for the ninety-nine who are righteous, but for the one who will be sought out in love and rescued from the terrors and consequences of a self-chosen path to destruction. Such were you.

You who are righteous may rejoice in seeing other poor sinners sought out and joined to the Church, and help them in their weakness as you are given to do while living in the same, eternal grace and favor of Christ Jesus, Whose precise and certain joy is to receive sinners to Himself.
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The Goal

But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. –I Timothy 1:5

Goals like these do not come about naturally, but are taught by the Holy Spirit Who testifies of Christ. At the same time, goals like these are not so lofty as to be wholly unattainable, or so mystical as only to be available to people with a certain level of spirituality.

In order for any of these goals to come about there must be instruction. There is a particular set of words with a particular set of meanings that are to be imparted by way of instruction. The content, because it is true and in accord with the Word of God, will yield the fruits that attend to love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Love from a pure heart has its origin in the Creator. So the instruction of the Prophets, Apostles, and now Pastors in the Church have to do with all the Creator says about Himself and the heart of man.

As the benefits of Christ Jesus are preached and applied, faith apprehends and applies them in such a way that hatred and bitterness are cast aside. Love from a pure heart flows forth, albeit often without self-awareness. In fact, the awareness is fixed on the Son of Man Who gave Himself into death out of pure love in order to rescue those who know not love.

Because the benefits of Christ Jesus reach all the way back to your conception and birth, to the present moment, and to the moment you are received into glory, your conscience may be “good,” that is, without fear of holy retribution on account of sin, because that sin has been borne totally by Christ Jesus, Who says in every way throughout this instruction: “Your sin is forgiven. I am the Vine. You are my carefully pruned branch, under my loving care. My righteousness is your righteousness. It is good.”

A sincere faith cannot obtain without the Word of God, so the instruction of the Church is precisely that. The Church and her Pastors do not seek out new teachings to satisfy your curiosity, but again and again return to what has been spoken from the beginning, and what has been spoken in these last days through the Holy Son of God, Christ Jesus. The Word of God does not testify of eternal things with duplicity or uncertainty. It is written. What is written has also been spoken from age to age. Most importantly, it has the Holy Triune God as the Author.

The above are called goals because natural conditions necessitate a change. All of these goals are contrary to you by birth. Yet all of them have been applied to you in Christ Jesus. When you hear these words concerning “the goal of our instruction,” consider it the Church’s way of putting simply to you what is the goal of your gracious Father in Heaven, namely the you remain steadfast in the Faith as He has given it to you for your strength and comfort, and for the good of your neighbor.

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'Tis Written

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. -Genesis 1:1

To the Prophet Moses it was given to inscribe the first verse of Sacred Scripture, along with much more. By the time he inscribed these words, thousands of years of history had transpired.

Some would say this is reason to disbelieve the accuracy of Moses' writing. Wellhausen of old asserted Moses was unequipped for the task because writing was not even possible at the time. Not true. Others would like to infuse fantastic mystery into it all. Not true.

This is what Adam and Eve taught their children, and their children, being blessed from Above passed the truths of creation and salvation along from one generation to the next out of love and care for one another. It was enough in those days for the Word to be spoken and passed along all by itself without being inscribed.

As your Creator ordained from eternity, the time came for the facts of creation and salvation to be written, and Moses wrote them by inspiration of the Holy Spirit just as Adam and his faithful successors, by the grace of God in Christ Jesus, spoke them by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Moses, like you, is a direct participant in the Passover deliverance of Christ's holy people.

It is always the aim of your Creator to present without question Who He is and what He does. He saw fit to inscribe these things at just the right time, and still speaks them to you at just the right time, just as He donned your weak flesh - the flesh of the first Adam - at just the right time, in order to die your death under the Law and raise you up as you are joined to Him through Christ Jesus.

The Church in time has set apart the date of September 4th to commemorate Moses, to whom you are joined in Christ Jesus by faith, by Holy Baptism, and by the Holy Communion Passover.
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That Stuff

Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU" -Hebrews 13:5

Admonitions like this tend to grate the wrong way because you do not have the will or capacity to obey the First Commandment, let alone all the others. But these words are spoken to you as you abide in Christ, so they are not totally alien. They are difficult because there is a constant battle within your flesh between the risen Christ and the Old Adam.

Love of money is pinned to love of wealth and possessions. It is a curious grasping after objects that hounds you like no other hound, as if it is a matter of life or death to have this or that thing.

Since you were endowed with reason and senses with no price tag attached, it is good to take a step back and get some perspective as to what really matters. Priorities in accord with your standing as a creature need to be revealed. They do not come naturally by any means.

There is a promise that attends to all who believe and are baptized, namely that the grace of God in Christ Jesus and everlasting life are completely detached from anything we might claim for ourselves. Since He says "I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you," that is pretty much "end of story" when it comes to valuing stuff.

Stuff. You grab it. You loose it. You hunt for it. You want more of it. And what does it do? It frustrates. It breaks. It fades. It changes. It keeps your eyes on it.

It is best to think of earthly possessions as tools wherewith to serve your neighbors, whether it be money or other things. Also as objects for which to give great thanks because they are gifts over and above the reason, senses, and birthday suit you received when you were brought into this world.

You dear Savior knows your weaknesses in these things, and He will tenderly admonish you by His Word to let go of them so you can be with Him in the life of the world to come.
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Transient Beings

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. -Hebrews 13:2

Glory and honor in the sight of the Most High God are found in places where you least expect it. Strangers are a case in point.

How difficult it is to turn your gaze away from things and people that are self-chosen delights, and instead turn your attention toward persons who waltz into your life with neither invitation nor plan.

Hidden in that startling body of flesh, blood, and bone that comes out of nowhere is a soul and spirit as unpredictable and incomprehensible as the wind. Who is this person? What do they want? What do they think of you?

For every living body that inhabits space on earth there is need. There is need of food and clothing merely on the surface of things, but more so there is need for these to be applied gracefully and graciously with words of comfort and good cheer.

Since this does not happen when you are looking inward at your own sufferings, this admonition to show hospitality without neglect points to the hidden glory of the recipient, so that you might be encouraged rather than afraid when a stranger enters your world.

Indeed, this is precisely what Christ Jesus did for you as well. Both of you strangers to one another, but He - The Maker of Heaven and Earth and all that is contained therein - took it upon Himself to minister to you and speak words of comfort and good cheer, not merely casting and nod and glance in your direction, but heaping all good things onto your lap and abiding with you as you share in His sufferings for a short while.

The opportunity to show hospitality to strangers will occur as your dear Father in Heaven provides it, for He has established your path already, and by His Word and Spirit preserves you in the same. Your service to angels is known to the Author and Perfecter of your faith, but not to you, and that is how it should be lest pride and boasting enter in.

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Taking Charge

For it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince, Whom your eyes have seen. -Proverbs 25:7

Asserting oneself into places of privilege and authority does not work out well. Hankering for recognition and adulation is intrinsic to the flesh we inherited from Adam. So you need the Word from Above to set things straight.

It is a matter of order and comparisons. The order of creation requires that distinctions be made with regard to lesser and greater positions. This is not something to fight against, but to understand in light of the Word Who orders all things for the benefit of all.

"It is better" means there is something worse. In this case it is better to be raised up than to raise yourself up.

In the eternal arrangement of things the only thing that can happen is for you to be called upward rather than disgraced. The Holy Son of God, Christ Jesus, came down from heaven to raise you up. First in Holy Baptism. Then in feeding you with His life and righteousness.

Don't bother even trying to raise yourself up and over the Word. It won't work. You'll be more than sorry. You'll be more than unhappy. Rather listen and rest in the LORD of Sabbaoth Who, apart from any merit or worthiness on your part, works constantly on your behalf in both temporal and eternal affairs.

The ultimate expression of this is most clearly made known in the enfleshment, the innocent sufferings, the death, and the resurrection of Christ Jesus. Here we see how God asserts Himself into the lowest position in order to serve His creation.

Now that you are in the presence of the Prince through faith in Christ Jesus, it will be your manner of behavior and concern to put others ahead, and to wait quietly when it comes to positions of authority in temporal affairs, all of which are necessary, but not to be grabbed at as if to make yourself great. You cannot do what your dear Savior has already done for you.

The Praise of Men

. . . but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. -1 Thess. 2:4

The Apostle Paul speaks within the context of his office as an Apostle. As he was given to build up the Church through clear admonitions, it is essential that he not compromise in word or deed; that he not allow the opinions of others govern his teaching, but rather continue in what Adam taught his children. The same holds for Pastors in the Church to this very hour.

The praise of men will never fall upon a crucified criminal, but the opinions of men see only horror and contempt in the Cross. So it is the chief aim of the Apostle to keep the crucified and risen Christ at the fore as One Who in love sought not the praise of men, but their contempt so that he might bestow on them the precise and best object of praise, namely God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who by His Holy Spirit has taught us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

It is important, however, not to place the Apostle’s self-description on such a level that it governs every vocation to the extent one may not in good conscience seek to please another person, or seek to win approval. Elsewise the entire entertainment and political spectra, for example, would be under strict condemnation, which in many circles they are.

The office of the Apostle and those who follow in his path, being joined to the Head of the Church, sanctify all vocations, and thereby put into place for one and all the parameters that govern day to day behavior. An entertainer seeks praise. A politician seeks praise. Yes. Neither is committed in their particular stations to preach the Gospel. Both are remanded to the custody of humility and offering praise where praise ultimately is due.

Here I am addressing Christians who struggle with applying their gifts in the world when their gifts truly do invite praise from others. It is not as if the Christian enters into this for the sole purpose of gaining the praise of men, or that the Christian is unaware that all things have been given in Christ. But the Christian serves his neighbor by honing skills and displaying them so that the neighbor may both be served and have double opportunity to heap praise, first upon Creator, and then upon His creation of which the epitome is man.

Without question, because of sin there will always be struggles within Christians as their flesh is constrained by the love of Christ into Whom they are baptized; Who gives identity not only in this life but in the life of the world to come. And yet, because the gift of Life in every way sanctifies all that is taken out into creation, a Christian called to entertain, to do exceedingly well in any sport or business, or even to hanker for votes, may run the race and rest in Christ at the same time.
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Teach Us to Number

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12

Well, look at that! The LORD of time and eternity has taught you to pray in such a manner that you ask Him to teach you to number your days.

This He has done, in answer to your prayer. You have a calendar, and you have a clock. Both are tools to mark out the past and the future as you live your days. Both serve as a way of governing perspective and ordering the good works you have been given to do as a baptized child of God.

They are a way of looking back to how God has graciously intervened so many times on behalf of His beloved creation, of which you are a part He does not neglect in the least. You look back on your own time with fear and trembling, because of sin and death.

The calendar we know today has a long and extensive history. It is rooted in the biblical texts, beginning with the Day of Creation. The Book of Genesis states clearly how old Adam was when he died. It does not use smoke, mirrors, or other twists of philosophy.

It is normal days, just like you see every day, that transpired while Adam and Eve lived in fear and trembling and hoped for salvation in the Christ who was to come at the appointed time and apply His days in such a manner as to win salvation for all poor sinners, Good Friday through Easter in particular being days of note.

You see the same sun each day that Adam and Eve saw. As a heart of wisdom can only be created from Above by the same Word that created the heavens and the Earth, that heart is yours because you’ve been baptized into His name and His works on your behalf.

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The Head

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited us and accomplished redemption for His people." -Luke 1:58

It may seem strange and out of place to observe with thanksgiving the beheading of John the Baptizer as we do this day. The separation of head from body is an experience anyone of reasonable mind and spirit considers horrifying.

But if one is to take seriously the Commandment to have no other gods than the One true God (which Commandment is indeed in effect from the begging and into eternity), then how are you by natural birth different than someone who was born without a head?

It is for a headless world that the Holy Son of God, Christ Jesus, came down from heaven and assumed the flesh of death while retaining His pure holiness, so that He would rescue it by His innocent suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection; the same Christ to Whom John the Baptizer pointed and cried aloud most clearly: "Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world!"

Since He takes away sin, He takes away death. Since He takes away death, He takes away fear and all that would harm, even if it means literally losing ones' head to the executioner.

Much can be said about how John the Baptizer was faithful in all things, yet suffered ignominy, hardship, and even a sudden, bitter end. Since you are joined to Christ Jesus along with John the Baptizer, it is ultimately Christ, your Head, who will sustain you in this life and draw you in tender love to Himself. This, despite all evidence around you to the contrary. For it is the Maker of all things Who is acting for you! + + +

Tide

Kids have a way of shedding dirty shoes and clothes at earliest convenience and with little regard for any higher authority who will have to pick up those clothes, wash them, and arrange them for future use.

It is no different for those who receive the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit. The dirty laundry is His to clean. The clean laundry is His to bestow, and this He does gladly, just as Moms and Dads do for their kids, whom they love dearly despite all weakness and frailty because the kids are of the same flesh.

It is as real as Moms and Dads who love their kids, only on a more profound scale, toward a more glorious end that the Holy Son of God renews all of creation through His innocent suffering and death; through His rising again from the dead, all while bearing you up in the midst of the fading glory of this life and world.

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Tender Discipline

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. –Hebrews 12:11

Discipline by definition and of necessity comes with a decided order. There can be no discipline without authority, and there can be no authority unless it has been established; ordered from top to bottom.

How often it happens that, rather than being subject to authorities that are higher, the flesh prefers authorities that are equal, lower, or non-existent. We may attribute this to the natural inclination to avoid pain, yet pain, by all accounts, is what comes with true and proper discipline.

Athletes train. Professionals develop their skills. Each in his vocation strives to do better. This we may attribute to self-control, but not to discipline in the strict sense (although we use the word discipline to describe such efforts, and such discipline may indeed involve pain).

Discipline of the kind referenced here is generated from the rub between holiness and sinfulness. It grates upon the subject so unpleasantly that it is far from joyful. It is sorrowful. It brings tears of sadness. Because your Father in Heaven has so clearly revealed His law, it grates upon the Old Adam severely, often to the extent you would rather run and hide than face it.

But rather than let you go undisciplined, your Father in Heaven sought you ought through the holy, incarnate Son of God, who was disciplined with the sorrowful discipline of being stricken, smitten, afflicted, and abandoned by God, so that you may share not only in this discipline through Holy Baptism and the Supper, but also share the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Once your entire inclination was to kick against the divine order of authority that metes out discipline, but now your heart has been turned by the Holy Spirit so that you accept fully what is both your position under the law, and your station in life both temporal and eternal under the Gospel.

This is the Lord’s doing, and because the source is true, good, and proper, the peaceful fruit of righteousness springs up as does fruit from a plant well-watered, pruned, and tended by its owner.
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Television

"And through his shrewdness He will cause deceit to succeed by his influence; And he will magnify himself in his heart, And he will destroy many while they are at ease. He will even oppose the Prince of princes, But he will be broken without human agency. - Daniel 8:25

The advent of photography and other recorded media is fairly recent. Its impact on modern culture is profound.

Where once imagery and audio was confined to single memory, with the advent of recorded media imagery may be viewed repeatedly, at great length, at will, and apart from its original context.

Where once a given image was confined to the locale of the subject, it may now be cast upon many subjects at once. Broadcasting, as it has accompanied the development of media, has also had a profound impact on modern culture.

For what purpose is most audio-visual material produced and distributed? Why do people take photographs, make movies, and record audio? The predominant purpose is self-satisfaction, with secondary concern toward ones' neighbor who may or may not accede favorably to the results.

Modern media is capable of driving a great deal of fear, greed, envy, and lust. One may deny all he wants that he is capable and culpable in these regards, but it remains a fact that these ubiquitous forms of entertainment bear close scrutiny in terms of a life of, or lack of, faith in the true and living God.

Ancient ancestors were once easily engrossed in animism - attributing various levels of life and intellect to any and every inanimate object. Our current engrossment of choice seems to be the animation and satisfaction supplied by devices that allow us to experience imagery and audio almost at will.

How have new media realms effected your character? Your relationships with your neighbors? Your relationship with your Creator?

Imagine what a mess you would have if Christ Jesus had been born in this age of recorded media, when images can be manipulated and broadcast in such a way as to spread disinformation and lies as so often happens today.

One may think our current age is one of great improvement and fulfillment, but it appears the Creator is not so enamored of media capabilities that He chose to enter human history, suffer, and die, and rise from the dead for you in front of cameras and recorders. Instead He is personally joined to you in preaching and sacraments.

Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the LORD?” Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God.

No matter what attempts may be made at gaining self-satisfaction, and no matter what the age, the order of Creation remains subject to the Prince of Princes, who has arranged things in such a way that you partake of Him and His resurrection from the dead. He will preserve you from the deceit so prevalent in this modern age.
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Telosvision

And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect. -Hebrews 11:39-40

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews sets forth an impressive list of biblical predecessors including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Joseph, the sons of Israel, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the Prophets.

Each of these in their own right is worthy of a best selling biography if for no other reason than their names are noted in the biblical texts. Yet your name, too, by virtue of your baptism into Christ Jesus, is written in the Book of Life.

These biblical characters of note are waiting for you to be perfected along with them in Christ Jesus at the last day. They are waiting not in the sense you experience time and space, but hidden for now, as all that is seen has been created from what is unseen.

The continuity that extends from the beginning over the span of all human history is given in the promise of salvation, which promise has been fulfilled completely through the innocent suffering and death of the Holy Son of God and His resurrection from the dead.

We too, like the biblical characters of old and believers in the centuries shortly following your Savior's resurrection, are still waiting to be perfected. To the extent you are given to abide in Christ through faith, each moment of every day is one of peeling away the stuff of the old Adam.

Is it not remarkable that even these ancient, biblical characters – even though they have entered into eternal joy and felicity - are still awaiting that time when all things are complete, namely the Last Day?

There are yet children whom the LORD God is forming and raising up for the praise of His glory, among whom you are counted. Do not lose heart.
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Treating With Love

Among Christians it is the practice to forgive sin and bear one anothers' burdens. There is much need for this, because each and all offend both God and neighbor daily and much.

Scarcely a moment of one day goes by that a Christian does not sense and regret offenses given: words spoken unkindly; thoughts about the neighbor that would bring harm; actions which, when held to the light, are lacking in every way when it comes to serving others; every kind of preoccupation that by all appearances is all but godly. It is all there in spades, plain as day.

It is not as if the sin and offense is ignored. It is very much apparent to all, whether within the Body of Christ or without. But the sin, even being inherent and pervasive, is not treated as deserved, each one knowing his debt has been paid at a price so unfathomable as to affect all of creation.

My neighbor in Christ may show much weakness, but He participates with me in the same Christ who, having made all things for the praise of His glory, for our sake became weak. The malice and bitterness so deserved are instead, as of a new creation, turned to love and sweetness.

Among Christians there is great rejoicing, because not only do they know their sins are forgiven, but that they may freely forgive any and all trespasses as Christ has freely, out of everlasting love, forgiven them.

The Fourth Petition you have been taught from Above is lived out in the Body of Christ because Christ is joined to His people, the Holy Spirit giving urge and utterance to all that afflicts the soul as the offenses remain visible to the eyes, yet are removed so completely that even your weak body is destined for perfect glory.
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Treating of Greeting

The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness." -Jeremiah 1:3

It is common in many local parishes for the congregation to leave the sanctuary in a procession of sorts, either semi-formal or informal, allowing the Pastor (or Pastors) to greet them individually. On many occasions I have been a Pastor who greets individuals as they leave the sanctuary, just as my Pastor has.

Here it happens that a man given to consider eternal things day in and day out is presented with an unpredictable onslaught of faces and names, each of whom he holds dear to his heart, having often thought through their lives and conditions, needs and cares, and yet never knowing for certain whether his notions are in accord with reality, except that they struggle with the same flesh he does.

For you, dear one in Christ Jesus, who greets your Pastor after Divine Service or on any other occasion, Your Maker is appearing to you from afar and saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness."

A Pastor is often distracted. To you it may even seem as if he is aloof. Although he knows better, human judgments about performance hound him just as badly as your own concerns in daily life do. Yet, as he looks at each face, he is seeing the faces of those who are baptized into Christ Jesus; whose bodies will at the Last Day be raised up pure and unencumbered by all that sticks to these bodies of death; whose lives are hidden in Christ Jesus.

A Pastor delights in seeing the congregation one-on-one, as it were. He knows that despite any and all weaknesses that attend to his person, those under his charge have received the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life that Christ Jesus lavishly bestows upon the Church He purchased through His holy and precious blood; His innocent suffering and death, all of which He most earnestly desired and intended before you were born.

It is for you as you leave the sanctuary just as it is for you going in: that all things delightful and good for you are ready and present according to the way your Creator set up your eternal well-being in Christ Jesus, that He has loved you with an everlasting love, and therefore drawn you into the body and blood of Christ who is risen from the dead, having made perfect payment with joy to purchase and win you to Himself; that He has placed this weak vessel in your very presence to convey gifts that even the highest powers on earth cannot create or offer.
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The Vocabulary

The vocabulary used here are words such as missional, intentional, lifestyle, living practices, goal, process. Conspicuously absent is a Lutheran vocabulary, such as forgiveness of sins, life and salvation, repentance, resurrection, grace, mercy, liturgy, sacrament.

It does the heart good to know you will not sit idly by while certain teachers in the Church rob themselves and others of the comfort we receive through the sound pattern of words and instruction that, together with vessels of humble appearance, declare us righteous while bestowing every good gift from Above. The fact that you are able to recognize departures from the Truth may be attributed to your dear Savior, whose tender voice you have heard and known from youth; whose grace day by day has kept you faithful.

The proliferation of notions akin to those expressed by many in Church officialdom is nothing new. How to address them to salutary effect is an art I am not particularly adept at practicing. My tendency is to flee in the opposite direction. This I may do, because I know a place where these alien teachings do not hold sway, namely the place where together we are recipients of, and conductors for, the grace of God in Christ Jesus at Emmaus, South Bend. Many other such places have, by the grace of God, been put forth in this land and around the world. The Holy Spirit calls you to seek them out.

As we draw nearer to the end of time in this world, the opportunities to confess the Faith clearly will increase. I take Pastor Stuckwisch, President Harrison, you, and several others as examples of those whose teaching, life and conduct are exemplary in dealing with matters like this. There is definite, inward stress that comes about when those in the Church continually place emphasis on our work and activity, making it a starting point, when in fact all we are and have is, from one moment to the next, sustained by grace through the same Word that created the heavens and the earth.

Perhaps there will be others who, like you, take time to express concern. The LCMS seems to be taking significant steps toward doctrinal oversight, so we may see an increase in faithful teaching and practice in our midst for which we may give thanks and praise to Christ Jesus. At the same time, based on my few visits outside of Emmaus over the years, chopped liver tends to be more in evidence than one Body. Well . . . we walk by faith!

I was reminded by your concern to reach back to Dr. Herman Sasse, whose life of teaching in the Church, in the paraphrased words of Dr. J.W. Kleinig, "frequently reminds us that the church is not sinless and free from the ravages of original sin. Nor has it ever been! It isn’t as if only heretics, liberal theologians and heterodox churches have erred. No, the church has often erred and would always err; even its most saintly leaders and all its greatest theologians have erred and have perhaps done the cause of Christ the greatest damage; even Luther and our orthodox fathers have erred; he himself has erred, and we, too, will err. Only Christ and His Word have never erred, and they will never err."

It is to this we are given to yield as we deal with one another under the grace we have received, in Whom we abide, namely that all sufficiency for all time is ours in Christ alone. Since He is proven to know our weakness, we may also deal in love with our neighbor's weakness, knowing no weakness ultimately nullifies the end of all that has been ordained from the beginning for the Body of Christ.

Peace be with you.
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Threads

She stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. – Proverbs 31:19

You are joined to the Bride of Christ, The Church, holy and without blemish because the merits and righteousness of Christ Jesus have been given to you in Holy Baptism, and you abide in His Word by His grace.

So the beginning and end of each day - although you only know this by faith - are times of taking what is incomplete and unfinished in the way of good works, and working it into all that is built up to the end of the age. Your garment of righteousness has been woven and spun not by your own efforts, but by your Creator who, through His Bride, keeps hand on spindle and distaff, never tiring of this good and wholesome process.

It is the same for your day-to-day life, or garment, of sanctification. In every respect you are forging ahead in faith under the cross, with your body of sin crucified and joined to the Living One.

Just as threads going into fabric are neither self-aware nor contrary in behavior, you who were once dead in trespasses and sin have are continually built up as Christ is at work in you both to desire and to do His good pleasure. As you look inward you see nothing but sin and death, but the Seamstress has an end in mind that is glorious and beyond your understanding.

This all takes place over time, and it all involves the work of Jesus on your behalf, in Whom you may take rest and comfort as he enjoins and invites you to do. It is through His Bride that all needs are given and taught, so that you need not wrestle under pretensions and manmade notions, but may instead rejoice in the Truth, having a path in which to walk that is clearly delineated day by day, serving neighbor with the same love and forgiveness you yourself have received.

The threads and fabric in spinning do not change in substance when they go from distaff to spindle, but remain the same substance under the careful attention of She who hears and believes the voice of her Husband, even though the latter stage is more glorious than the first. The Bride of Christ will bring you good, and not harm, all the days of your life; from beginning to end; from distaff to spindle.

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Three Men

When Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, behold, three men were standing opposite him; and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth, and said, “My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass Your servant by.

One God in three persons has bound Himself to us in the flesh of Christ Jesus, who, after making atonement for the sin of the world on the tree of the cross, rose again from the dead, bringing a new creation to bear upon all that is fallen and dying before our eyes.

The life and benefits of this Christ are distributed widely and concretely in those places where His Word rings out clearly and truly. He is the Christ born of the virgin Mary, whose flesh also was, in time, derived from that of Eve and of Sarah, to whom the LORD spoke as He speaks to all in His everlasting, unchanging Word.

He is the Living Christ who abides in and with His people throughout time and eternity.
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Together Heirs in Christ

I will bring forth offspring from Jacob, and an heir of My mountains from Judah; Even My chosen ones shall inherit it, and My servants will dwell there. –Isaiah 65:9

The promise of salvation through the merits and righteousness of Christ Jesus goes from general to specific because the promise is both comprehensive and individually brought to bear through His living flesh. He, together with His Church, is the offspring of Jacob. Names are named in this business of salvation.

This salvation springs up in the midst of a people whose heart is continually inclined toward evil; who even go so far as to relish in graves, self-indulgence, and self-righteousness.

The Heir of The Mountains from Judah is Christ Jesus first who received honor and glory after making perfect atonement for the sin of the world and being from the dead as proof of His righteousness on your behalf, and then also you as a son who partakes of Him by faith.

In order to guard and keep you He has placed his garment of righteousness upon you in Holy Baptism, and how places Word of Absolution and His flesh into your ears and mouth.

He speaks to you with great clarity that His righteousness was procured on your behalf, and is lavishly applied by His will and promise.

It is the nature of an inheritance that it is of great benefit and unearned. To have the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life bestowed apart from and merit or worthiness is of great benefit. It is cause for constant rejoicing, even in the midst of death and sin, because this forgiveness of sins originates from the One who has authority of all of creation.

It is He who declares to you this day and always: “All things are yours.”
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Tears No More

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." – Revelation 21:1-4

The visions of St. John’s revelation span all of eternal history, showing in dramatic form what is the essence of the entire purpose and will of the Creator. This same eternal history and plan is brought to bear in simple form as the children of this age are sundered from the grip of sin, death, and the devil through Holy Baptism.

Here we see frail flesh brought into the new heaven and the new earth prepared from the foundation of the world. We hear a quiet voice through which the Word is spoken while joined to water, for today there is a sea of washing that must needs apply to those who are forgiven of all sin and brought to everlasting life. In the age to come there will be no such sea.

The basis for this forgiveness is nothing other than the merits and righteousness of Jesus Christ, The Alpha and the Omega, Whose atoning sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for all people for all time; Whose righteousness is brought to bear in precisely this way: that He calls you by name, washes you in Holy Baptism, and thereby dwells with you to the extent you are delivered from all evil.

To be sure, there are at present tears, death, mourning, crying, and pain. They are enmeshed in the flesh inherited from the first Adam. All of these belong to you, yet also to Christ Jesus in this age, even as His Love endures such things on your behalf. The Good Shepherd and Bridegroom goes with you, and ahead of you, to bring you into everlasting joy.
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The Liturgy

Today my Pastor stands before an audience in Austin, Texas to set forth why Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church, South Bend, makes use of particular forms while confessing the Faith. He was asked to present these things with an eye toward what some people call a “high church” approach to the liturgy.

Having been a parishioner at Emmaus for over 17 years, the words “high church” have never come to mind. To be sure, there is a great amount of consistency, but it is not some kind of lifeless, robotic, rote, perfunctory set of rubrics. Not that that is what people mean when they speak of “high church,” either.

There are parishes where such strict attention is given to rubrics (the red-letter instructions given to assist Pastors and Congregations in reverent conduct) that they might be considered as important as the remaining substance given to create and sustain faith. There are a good many parishes where the liturgical practice is far more elaborate than at Emmaus.

It is absolutely critical to understand that Divine Service is God’s way of dealing with you; meeting you face to face as it were, to stoop down, draw near, and tenderly forgive all your sin and iniquity, no matter how great. It is the King of the Universe Who meets you there, so that He might lavish His love upon you and teach you of the cross He endured for you and all people, so that you might be drawn to follow Him.

As soon as you introduce the notion that Divine Service is something you must do to please God, you’ve turned the whole thing into a sham. This notion is so ingrained in your old Adam, it will never go away completely until your baptism is complete and you enter into glory.

Since God, in His most bare moments of revelation in declaring Who He Is, came down from heaven and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary to suffer and die in your place, and has also declared from ancient times how He is slow to anger and abounding in mercy, you may confidently draw near to where He has promised to be, and that is in His Word.

The Divine service is characterized above all things by rich reading and hearing from the very texts given among men whereby God revels Himself. To that Word He was also attached Holy Baptism, Sacrament of the Altar, and Holy Absolution, all of which are regularly practiced in Divine Service.

Inasmuch as God could turn stones into voices giving praise, He instead has turned your heart of stone into a heart of flesh, so that you may receive the benefits of everlasting life in His presence both now and forever.

Because the sum and substance of the gifts delivered in Divine Service reach back into all of time, we treat them with reverence and awe, and yet keep in mind that these things are not a method of some kind that we have cobbled together, but a carrying-on of what has been handed down from one generation to the next.

Divine Service at Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church, South Bend, takes the best of what has been received, and continues to distribute the gifts of heaven in truly evangelical fashion, not making a law of liturgy, but treating it as a reverent, ordered pattern whereby the benefits of Christ may be delivered in person to all mankind in that place. Christ be praised!
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Tend My Sheep

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

God has so arranged matters in the Church that one man, namely a Pastor, is given to preach and administer the Sacraments. In this way grace and peace are multiplied toward all mankind. It would be a real mess if everyone and his brother all got up at the same time to speak.

Beneath the office of Pastor is hidden all the glory, majesty, eternity, and blessing that comes with being in His presence. He has established this ministry as a means of dwelling in your midst in tender mercy and compassion, so that you are not dealt with as your sin deserves.

The same happens, in a way, when the head of the household teaches his children. The majesty and glory of God are hidden there, as His Name is brought to bear in truth and purity upon lives from one generation to the next.

No Pastor is able to undertake this work of his own accord or with his own genius. No, he takes what he himself has received, and distributes it. You see, by one man preaching and doing this work of distributing the gifts of forgiveness of sins, many are blessed as this grace and peace is multiplied.

Some may take offense at being called “sheep,” but this is one of the most apt descriptions for poor sinners, whose will is constantly at odds with the Creator, who have an inclination toward a herd mentality, and who must be fed proper food if they are to flourish in peace.

It is best if we admit and confess who we are as Christ Jesus calls us this name of “sheep,” despite how lowly the attribution might be. What this means is that you have been taught to hunger for righteousness and receive it in the Sacrament of the Altar.

A faithful Pastor does not consider the people to whom he preaches as his own possession, but rather Christ’s, who were purchased at the price of His holy precious blood; His innocent suffering and death, His resurrection from the dead.

“Shepherd My sheep.” The admonishment leaves out every kind of trickery, gimmick, and program that people would use to wield power over one another. Instead it places firmly within the Pastor’s prerogative the gifts and blessings needed to bring poor sinners into the Kingdom of Heaven, namely the Word to which God Himself is bound forever, and the Sacraments to which He and His Word are also bound
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Their Jealousy

But the high priest rose up, along with all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

Peer pressure and jealousy are no way to run a church, and yet these attributes have their effect all too often in the world.

The sect of the Sadducees had no regard for any concept of the resurrection of the dead, yet here was this raggedy bunch of untrained followers of Jesus publicly teaching a resurrection of the dead beginning with His appearing in the flesh to say, "Peace be with you."

Today there are all kinds of sects vying for your attention, too, begging you to be their follower, being jealous when your heart and mind are instead called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, Who draws you to the crucified, living Christ.

The high priest and all his associates are a force to be reckoned with. They represent all those powerful people who give every evidence of righteousness and holding to true spirituality. They have lots of power and money. They are widely recognized for their authority.

Why would they be jealous over you? Their jealousy is not of the same kind your Father in Heaven has for you when He says, "I the LORD Your God am a jealous God." His jealousy is born of a desire to save you from sin by grace alone, through faith alone, and saying "Peace be with you." Theirs is a jealousy born of a desire to have you take additional measures and pay up.

This tension will not go away in this life, inasmuch as there will always be people hankering for your devotion, attention, and substance while offering some comfort and recompense for your efforts. Your old Adam is inclined to agree.

But you do not belong to them. Instead you are counted among the Apostles who rejected any person, method, or means of salvation that does not put forth Christ crucified and risen from the dead as the only name and hope under heaven whereby men must be saved.

As you are gathered into Christ's Holy Church, it is not peer pressure or jealousy on the part of other people who cause this, but the Holy Spirit who testifies of Christ crucified and risen for you, living for you, and laying upon you both freely and bodily His own life and righteousness, calling you his dear child.
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Two Artists

Do you see a man skilled in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before obscure men.

Of the many vocations that invite the concentrated application of gift and skill, being a graphic artist is aimed toward the light of the body, namely the eyes.

Centuries before we had the advantage of photography and digital manipulation, our forefathers had to use imagination tied to the digits on their hands to render images of beauty, proportion, and interest.

Two artists who gained notice for this skill were Lucas Cranach and Albrecht Durer, both of whom were admirers of Dr. Martin Luther; both of whom treated biblical themes in their work.

While Dr. Luther testified from common man to king in bringing to light the Gospel of Christ Jesus, which in that day had been obscured by all kinds of philosophical innovation, these two artists did the same with visual depictions crafted with skill which until that time was unknown.

It was not as if these men had a driving urge to be noticed. Rather, knowing themselves to be recipients of grace from Above in every way, they applied themselves with diligence and joy to their vocations, and this in turn led to wide recognition.

For you, dear Christian who has been purchased with the blood of Christ Jesus, there is a work of great skill to be set before kings, namely the work of Christ Jesus on your behalf, which you possess completely and fully by faith.

It was not through any driving urge on your part that this work is yours, but a driving urge from before the foundation of the world that took you and set you up in a high place, namely the presence of God.

While you may not think your confession of Christ Jesus is made before kings, it issues forth from the King of Kings on behalf of all mankind as you render quiet service with the skills and blessing you've received from Above, no matter how great or small.

Terminator Terminated

Christ Jesus has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

It is a tall order only the Great Physician of body and soul could accomplish: the abolition of death. It took a legal decree, a legal declaration, and a real death of innocent flesh and blood in the Holy Son of God, Christ Jesus, for this to happen. That is what the cross is all about. Your Savior’s resurrection from the dead is proof that the sentence of death spoken upon Him and those who abide in Him no longer holds sway.

With the abolition of death comes the abolition of every evil, because death is an effect brought into to world through the evil one who is a liar and a murderer. Thinking he has control over life and death, he sunk his fangs into what he thought to be his biggest prize, only to have his head crushed and his fangs broken; rendered totally ineffective.

Now the descendants of Abraham, the Children of Israel, the whole Christian Church on earth together with all mankind, have a certain hope. Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death.

Now the Word sounds out to the ends of the earth: “I forgive you all your sins!” “Christ is risen!” Through this Word life and immortality are brought to light. Unlike sin and death, these truths are not self-evident. They are brought to light through speech and deed in accord with what is written in Holy Scripture.

This is why the Gospel is handled and proclaimed with the utmost joy and clarity: it is the means whereby your Creator brings you out of death to life, declaring publicly in no uncertain terms that your sin was placed upon your dear Savior; that He carries you and your every burden with joy and thanksgiving, not waiting for you to get your act together, but through His act of sacrifice on the cross and rising from the dead, attaching Himself and His righteousness to you.

From Adam to Moses death reigned; but the presence of the Word abolished death. No longer in Adam are we all dying. In Christ we are all reviving. - Athanasius

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Two Stages

But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming . . .

The history of eternal salvation is such that it does not all happen at once in time, even though it has been in the heart of God from eternity. Everything is done in order, and as humankind has experienced it, the period of time has drawn out over thousands of years at least.

You may attribute this stretch of time to the longsuffering patience of Your Creator, Who, although He could have wiped out all of mankind at any time in a manner much more dramatic and final than the flood in Noah’s day, took time instead to arrange the history of salvation in such a manner as to draw near to you in perfect love; in Word and in deed.

Now that Christ is raised from the dead, having made payment for the sin of the world as told first to Adam and Eve and now to you in these last days, the first final phase of salvation history is in effect. Christ the First Fruits has gone before all resurrected flesh, paving the way for the rest of mankind in the order God has established from eternity.

Those who are Christ’s at His coming are all those who are baptized into His name, including you. Your resurrection from the dead is included in that of Christ Jesus because He is joined to you in Holy Baptism, His Word, and His Supper.

The children of Abraham are described as numbering the grains of sand on the seashore, or the stars in the sky. All who have gone before you as believers, as well as all those who will come after you, are counted in the number who will be raised from the dead in Christ Jesus when He comes at the last day.

The evidence is substantial in pointing to a long history for the orb of creation. Some say millions and billions of years, neither knowing the power of God nor believing what is plainly written. What matters is that this history of salvation now includes you, who have the forgiveness of sin and everlasting life, being robed in the pure righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Since He is raised from the dead, it will only be a little while till you, along with all the saints, see with your own eyes the glorious day when death is swallowed up in victory.

For the time being, this resurrection is preached to you and to those who are afar off, as many as God will call by the Gospel. For the time being the same cross under which Christ Jesus suffered is laid upon you in just those ways you are able to endure.
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This Life Only

If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.

Being baptized into Christ Jesus is a “both/and” condition, for you have His blessing in this life as He carries you through all troubles in love, and in the life to come as He carries you into the bosom of the Father where eternal joys are found.

Following his conversion, the Apostle Paul lived day by day with his eye on the goal of eternal life. It was this hope that drove him forward in such devotion that he underwent severe suffering at the hands of men, and yet endured with love and grace, being at peace with all men.

The separation between life in this world and life in the world to come can be a difficult thing; in fact it is impossible without the grace of God in Christ Jesus. It is your nature to be drawn toward the things of this world as if they are permanent; as if they are the source of true joy and satisfaction.

Only as the Gospel of your dear Lord Jesus Christ rings into your ears - how He suffered and died and rose again for your sin and the sin of the world – does the prospect of enduring this life patiently and looking forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come have any appeal.

This appeal is to your new nature as Christ Jesus abides in you, urging you to flee from sin and seek asylum in His merits and righteousness, which can never be taken away. This righteousness avails before God your Father in heaven to the extent both body and soul are preserved for eternity.

The full nature and extent of your salvation is not merely a pie-in-the-sky platitudinous undertaking, but a reality that draws you bodily from earth below to heaven above, because it is your bodily Christ – your risen and living Christ in the Flesh - Who feeds you with His own body and blood in the sacrament of the altar, Who is ever-so-patiently refining and forgiving.

Because the joys of this life are often overwhelming, it may at times seem as if you would rather stay here forever. But those joys are only a small foretaste of the true joy that awaits you. You are not counted among those who are most to be pitied, but among those who are most blessed. You will be delivered from all evil as you abide in Christ.
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The Ready Ear

It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.

Because Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, all answer to prayer is made, even for those things you fail to ask or think. The heart of your Creator has always been such that He would go ahead of you, making all things new before you even knew your need.

When Jesus taught among his earthly disciples as we read in the Holy Gospels, He taught them in particular what to ask as He taught them the Our Father. Every petition of this prayer, which addresses our every need in this life, has been answered before you ask, because you are intimately joined to Him Who asks on your behalf before the Father.

It is the deepest desire of your Creator to reveal Himself to you as merciful and kind; your only Hope; your utmost Good; your Savior. He does this as His Word sounds out into your ears, pure and unadulterated in itself, but subject to questioning only because your old Adam is not about to give up.

And yet, before you could even ask your old Adam to give up and go away, your Father in Heaven drowned him in the One Holy Baptism sanctified by the Word of Christ. Before He baptized and taught you in the Faith, He saw to it that the work of Christ Jesus would be complete on your behalf, being crucified, arisen, and ascended so that He might be present in His Baptism for you in every need according to His glorified flesh.

Your prayer is heard while you are still speaking, because it is Your Creator and Redeemer who taught you to pray, having gone before you to win the prize of salvation before you entered the world to live out your days under the sun.

Consider how it is that Your Father in heaven has already answered your prayer:

He has made known to you His Name in truth and purity.
He has brought His kingdom to you in Holy Baptism.
He works His will in and through you despite your weakness and sin.
He provides you richly with daily bread.
He forgives all your trespasses and sets your heart at peace.
He leads you in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.
He has already placed you in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, thus delivering you from the evil one.

All this is accomplished for you because Christ Jesus is risen from the dead, and live and rules ot all eternity for the sake of His dear children, among whom you are counted.
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Treated and Released

But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness.

It is with the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead in view that your Creator spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying that He creates Jerusalem for rejoicing. Without this resurrection there is no joy or gladness. With it there is joy and gladness that lasts forever, for in Christ Jesus your sin has been treated to its just deserts, you have been released from bondage to it, and your body is no longer subject to permanent decay.

The effect of sin and death, were it not for the saving work of God in Christ Jesus for you, would have consequences of permanent sorrow and banishment from the Garden of Paradise. With this resurrection, however, the Garden of Paradise is wide open, because Christ Jesus made substitute for your flesh of death, was crucified to make payment for it, and is now risen to intercede for you and bring you into this new creation through His living flesh and blood.

It is true enough that in this Jerusalem there remains a remnant of sorrow. You still experience pangs that, at times, cause you to wonder whether this could possibly be true. The cross is like that. There are matters attendant to your own sinful flesh that still need discipline and refinement. But even in these matters, because you are joined to Christ Jesus by faith, by His Word in Holy Baptism and Holy Supper, He is always at work in you to will and to do His good pleasure.

This Jerusalem, the Church of rejoicing, is His creation, not yours. Because it is His creation it is true and everlasting. As He teaches you in love, the reality of this new creation is what causes you to rejoice greatly, precisely because you know for certain that what you see and experience of the sinful flesh is only that which is being cast off and put away, drowned as it were, so that the new creation may spring forth.

The proof of this new creation is the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead, which has been testified to in word and deed from the time the first man, Adam, fell into sin, to this very day. It has been witnessed and testified to directly by those who saw with their own eyeballs that Christ Jesus did not remain sealed in a tomb. It was also witness directly and abundantly that He shed real blood, and at the end said, “It is finished.”

“He is not here. He is risen.” Because of this you may walk even through the valley of the shadow of death and rejoice, because He goes before you, and with you, into this new creation made for your rejoicing.
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The Resurrection

It was real flesh and blood that brought sin and death into the world. It is the real flesh and blood of Christ Jesus that made payment for sin and conquered death. So it will be real flesh and blood that is raised up at the last day, incorruptible and imperishable.

Everything around you is subject to decay, even the sun and the moon that have shown upon mankind from the beginning of creation. You may bring new things into your temporal life, but by now you know these do not last. Try as we might to manufacture something that does not break or fade, everything breaks and fades anyway.

“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” –Romans 8:20-21

The resurrection of the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus which we celebrate this day is proof positive that a new creation has been introduced into our midst, one in which we partake, being joined to Him by faith, in baptism, and in His supper. Because our acquaintance with breaking and fading is so prevalent, the idea of bodies raised up and incorruptible seems distant.

The Holy Scriptures are replete with references to the resurrection of the dead. God is a God of the living, not the dead. All the saints of old who have gone before us are alive, while their bodies rest for a short time, will be raised up at the last day because Jesus, the First Fruit of the Resurrection, lives and abides in them as a Vine lives and abides in its own branches.

The extent to which you are tied into the resurrection of the dead is complete. Even unbelievers will be raised up at the Last Day, raised up to receive in their bodies the fruits of unbelief, namely eternal anguish and pain; eternal separation and banishment.

But for you, baptized child of God in Christ Jesus, awaits a place where all pain and anguish ceases; where only pure joy is found. He has plucked you out of the net and raised you up. He has seated you in the heavenly places in Christ; He is bringing you to completion at the Last Day, because for you He is risen from the dead.
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Total Tranquility

And He said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest."

It has always been the object of your Creator’s love and mercy to be with you and provide you with rest. This can hardly be seen more clearly than in the rest of your Lord Jesus in the tomb after He made payment for your sin.

His presence has always been one to take away the sin of the world. He established a means of dwelling with poor sinners from the very moment the first Adam fell into sin, placing before all people the sure and certain promise that He is present, and that He is at the ready to provide everything good, even eternal life, despite all weakness and sin.

Rest is sweet. Rest is peaceful. Rest grants release from work and labor, fear and hurt. Your Maker fashioned you in the womb so that, as you go through your days, you experience in a small way how sweet it is to sleep soundly. But, because you are a child of the first Adam, subject to weakness and sin, there are times when even at night you awake with a start; when a sorrowful thought, or bitterness, ruins what would otherwise be total peace.

Jesus knows this well, for he took on flesh just like yours, so that He would be a Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief. His presence among us is no less complete and participatory than has been in the heart of God from everlasting, and yet it was necessary for Him to enter into history experiencing birth and death, so that He might sanctify the birth and death of all who came after the first Adam.

You see, this is how His presence goes with you, and He gives you rest. He gives you rest because He gives you His flesh and blood, baptizing you into His own righteousness and life; feeding you the same, so that you need not fear sin and death, but may rather look forward in confident joy, because He has fully taken your place under the law, even to the point of resting in your tomb.

Because He participates fully in your life, having complete sympathy, He also intervenes on your behalf, praying for you, teaching you, and comforting you in the midst of trouble, just as He was comforted and sustained by the Father’s unfailing declaration: “You are My Son, today I have begotten You,” meaning that the Father’s love is always manifest in the Son, and the Son is manifest to us in love in His flesh laid down as our substitute in every way.

So it remains true, that while you traverse this short-lived moment in the midst of fallen creation, He is present and gives you rest, making known abundantly how longsuffering, patient, kind, unchanging, merciful, righteous, tender, and certain is His desire for you. By His rest in the tomb, preceded by His perfect atonement for your sin, all things are prepared for you to enter His rest, both now and forever.

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Trading Places

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The LORD mighty in battle, able to deliver His chosen people with mighty signs and wonders, is the same LORD Who humbled Himself to the extent He was found in appearance as a man, not to do mighty battle in the way the world sees it, but by undertaking to have the sin of the world heaped upon Himself so that He would take it away, thus satisfying all holy judgment against sin.

You, the poor sinner, are the object of this humility It was for you that Your Maker became small, so that He could visit you with His mercy. It is good for you to draw very simply from this verse how deeply your Father in Heaven is concerned for your temporal and eternal well-being. It is a descent from the highest throne in heaven to the lowest parts of the earth on your behalf.

We are not capable of imagining the holiness that attends to the highest things. The sinful nature is too ingrained for these things to be known directly, although some, like the Apostle Paul, and others, were given to see more clearly. Not even the most beautiful sights on earth compare. It is easier for us to understand misery, fear, sadness, anxiety, decay, and death. There are very much a part of experience, because they are attendant to our condition by nature as poor sinners.

The line from the highest heights to the deepest depths is so long and pervasive, it takes God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, to navigate from one to the next without hesitation or difficulty, which He does for you in Christ Jesus not just occasionally, but richly and daily.

The obedience of Christ Jesus was rendered in such a form as to be little recognized. He was numbered with the transgressors. He had mother, father, brothers, and sisters. He had family and friends who knew Him in person. He had no form or comeliness, no literal halo, that attended His humility, that we would look upon Him and treat Him special.

That’s because your Father in Heaven, in Christ Jesus, wanted to treat you special instead. He want to trade places, so you might be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

It pleased him, being the Word of God, to “take the form of a slave.” So he willed to be joined to our common human condition. He took to himself the toils of the members who suffer. He made our human maladies his own. He suffered and toiled on our behalf. This is in accord with his great love of humankind. - Eusebius of Caesarea

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