Anticipated Light Arrives

She gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus -Matthew 1:25b

Of all the ways to pass time, standing next to railroad tracks and waiting for a train turns out to be one of the more dramatic. Minutes, even hours go by, and there is nothing but the sound of birds ["You are more valuable than many sparrows."], the wind, perhaps some traffic, and maybe your own feet as you shift from one direction to another, looking to the left, looking to the right, looking at the steel rails you hope will bring a train before your very eyes. For what seems to be a very long time there is nothing much to see.

Then it happens. You look down the tracks in one direction, and there is the unmistakable pinprick of light - the headlight on the engine - announcing without question that a train is approaching. It will not turn aside. It cannot turn aside. It may take a while, but soon it will pass by only feet away, bring its massive engines and cargo before your eyes and ears with a roar that tightens your stomach and tons of cargo that shake the ground.

Oh that You would rend the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Your presence.

Of all the Gospel readings to hear during the holy season of Advent, St. Matthew’s account of the birth of Christ Jesus turns out to be one of the most dramatic. Your Father in heaven would have you hear of the birth of His only-begotten Son even while in the midst of this time of patient waiting for the holy season of Christmastide. He is intent on rending the heavens to come down so that you might be in His presence.

For now it is as if there is not even a headlight on the horizon, but the inevitable entrance of God into human flesh in order to save you has already taken place – not so that He might pass by in a display of power and glory to impress you, but to that He may fulfill what was spoken to Adam and Eve, not minutes, or hours, or ages from the time they estranged themselves from God by their disobedience, but immediately and in person.

Not even a headlight on the horizon. That is how it must have been for Joseph when he found out his betrothed was found to be with child. He did not have the benefit of an angel of the LORD to tell him what was up. For all he knew, and he had only this to conclude: His beloved was unfaithful to Him, much like you have been unfaithful before God in thought, word, and deed, by what you have done and by what you have left undone.

As Joseph turned in for the night to go to sleep he might as well have been mourning in lowly exile like God’s ancient people who were punished for their disobedience. He looked ahead and all he could see was a divorce. Even a quiet divorce would not be without pain and sorrow. He looked behind and all he could see was unfaithfulness. Someone very close to him betrayed him.

“What are they going to think and what are they going to say when they find out my beloved is pregnant and we are not even married?” And if that were not enough, it weighed upon Joseph, the Son of David, what the LORD God has commanded from the beginning: “You shall not commit adultery.” Fact of the matter was, as he tossed and turned in his bed at night, that his betrothed was, by all indications, a fornicator. It is not merely what people think or say when it comes to fornication, but it is the most holy God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in whose presence no one can stand whose sin is not covered and whose iniquity is not taken away.

And so God rent the heavens and came down for Joseph by His Word through the holy angel, just as He intervenes for you this day through His called and ordained servants of the Word. “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” All things are new for St. Joseph and for you, for this Child conceived in her womb is conceived by the Holy Spirit so that He may come into the world to save all people from their sin.

Like a train making its way with absolute determination to the destination for which it is bound, the holiness and rightness of God is delivered among men through Christ Jesus, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, in order to fulfill that which was spoken by the prophets. “Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a son.”

There is no stopping it. The LORD God rends the heavens and comes down, not in pomp, power, and glory, but in the flesh of Christ Jesus given into death for your sin, and raised up from the dead so that you who believe and are baptized are raised up into the heavenly places together with Him, even now as you share in His body and blood at this altar.

What is delivered to you here is the complete and full forgiveness of sins, not by the light of the locomotive, but by the Light of the Word of LORD as spoken from the beginning and enduring forever. This little child whose body will soon digest His mother’s milk and then curds and honey is the same body delivered up unto death on a Cross for your sake, so that His wisdom and strength and honor and glory may be delivered also into your body this day, a body that one day was destined for the pit of hell, but now is set apart in holiness, innocence, and blessedness, even though you wait long days and hours filled with trouble, pain, anxiety, worries about bills, worries about what other people say and think, even disease and death. All of those things that make you toss and turn like Joseph the Son of David did.

The grace and peace of Christ Jesus are upon you now, not because of your own life and the drama that comes with it, but because God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ undertakes to meet you face to face precisely where you are at all times and in all places.

So it happens that such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah are upon you. The strong and wicked are cast away. The weak and righteous find their refuge in Christ Jesus, God in human flesh, born of the Virgin Mary to save them from their sins.

You know, the business of kings and nations have been interrupted on account of this salvation delivered to you in your baptism and in the Supper of Christ’s body and blood this day. Where youth may be inclined to reject wisdom from on high as in the day of King Ahaz, saying, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s loins!” the wisdom of God encompasses all of creation in having your Christ Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit for you, and then fulfilling all righteousness for you. Again, like a speeding freight train that cannot be turned aside or stopped, the heavens are opened and the righteousness of God is delivered to you this day.

Therefore, beloved, do not wait upon the LORD as those who have hope, but as one who, by faith, has seen the bright light of His Resurrection, according to His Word and promise to you. Wait in the peace of His Gospel; watch unto prayer, as He has taught you to pray and has promised to hear you; and work in those labors of love to which He has called you in this life.

Do not lose heart when your place in life is hard to bear, when your job is difficult and long, when your work seems pointless and under-appreciated, and when all your labors appear to be in vain.

Do not lose heart, nor give up hope, though you are tested and tried and frankly tired of waiting.

Do not grow weary of doing good, even if you feel like it doesn’t really matter what you do or don’t do, or whether you do anything at all. In truth, your works of love mean a great deal because they are the works of Him who ate curds and honey at the time He knew enough to refuse evil and choose good; they are significant in the same mysterious and hidden way as all the Signs of Christ are hidden under His Cross — because they are His good works of love in you, and they fly in the face of sin, death, the devil and hell. When everything is so hard and seems so hopeless, and it only keeps on getting harder and worse, no matter how much you try, and yet you persevere in faith and love, by God’s grace in Christ Jesus, then you are boldly confessing His Resurrection from the dead.

That matters. Not because you are saving yourself, but because your obedience of faith and your persistent labors of love are the fruits of Christ’s Cross and genuine Signs of His Resurrection.

Therefore, wait upon the Lord and hope in His Word, for His mercies are new every morning, and with Him there is plenteous redemption. Quiet your nagging doubts and fears with His Gospel, His Word of forgiveness, and with His sure and certain promises to you.

If you speak, then speak as God speaks: Confess what He has spoken to you by His Son. Pray as He has spoken, also, with the words that He has given you, in the sure and certain hope that He does help you in your weakness, and knowing that He Himself prays in you and prays with you and prays for you continually.

You cannot see it now. Your eyes will deceive you, as will your sinful heart and mind, your changing feelings and up-and-down emotions. Yet, even when you see and feel death, take hold of the Cross of Christ by faith, and behold your King coming to you with grace and favor through His innocent suffering and death, and through His resurrection from the dead.

Hear His Word to you now, and taste the Signs that He thereby gives to you and pours out for you: His holy Body and His precious Blood. If He has eaten curds and honey in the Promised Land, so do you eat and drink a better Milk and Honey in His Kingdom, even now in His Church on earth. Even now at this altar. Even henceforth and forevermore as the LORD God through Christ Jesus prepares and fulfills all things for you unto life everlasting.

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Begging for Mercy

Then Peter came and said to Him, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" -Matthew 18:21

Two pleas for mercy have been placed into our ears by the Word and Spirit of God this day:

1.) Enter not into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight shall no one living be justified.
2.) Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.

“Enter not into judgment with your servant” is a fervent plea to the Lord God that He not even go there. “Please do not even consider me and my life according to my thoughts, words, and deeds.”

“Have patience with me and I will repay you everything” is a fervent plea after the Lord God has already entered into judgment. It means, “Now that I’ve already been found out, please give me time to work it out.”

We make a big deal out of the fact that we cannot be saved before God by our works; by our pleas for more time so we can make amends – and rightly so, for by grace are you saved, not by works.

But look at what happens in this Gospel: The one who aims to pay God back, despite his complete inability to do so, is also the one whom the Master forgives and releases: “And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt.” He forgave him even though he was intent on paying back eventually, somehow, some way, by his own works.

He did not “have the means.” He did not have any way, no matter how much time, no matter how much effort, to make up what was owed. But here is the kicker: Even though he entertained the ridiculous thought he could pay back his debt, he was not taken to task or penalized for thinking this way.

And neither are you, even though you often think it is up to you to please God. God in His mercy places His Word into your midst and heart, so that you think and speak according to His will, and know Him as He is.

Whether you plead from the get-go that God not enter into judgment with you, or whether you are caught in trespass and sin with an enormous debt to pay, your Lord – Your Creator – feels compassion and releases you and forgives your debt.

You do not have the means to pay back your debt. God does. And what means does He have? His own Son, Christ Jesus, begotten of the Father from eternity as only God can be; born of a woman, just as you are. He it is Who has removed your sin and transgression.

The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth;

Who keeps lovingkindness for thousands,
Who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin;

Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished,
visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children
and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.

When was the last time you begged for mercy? What was at stake with your begging?

It is much easier to offer excuses than to beg for mercy, but when it comes to doing wrong against God and neighbor, mercy is the only thing that will remove and repair the damage done.

Through mercy and forgiveness, that which *is* may be called that which *is not.* This is what your Father in heaven does, just as He called the heavens and earth into being which were not but now are.

When you say “Excuse me,” you are, in a small way begging for mercy. It may merely be bumping into someone, or just being in their way, or leaving the seat up when it should have been down. [A word of wisdom for those of you who struggle with this or who are about to enter the estate of Holy Matrimony: leave both seats down if you can remember, so both of you must lift – not at the same time of course.]

But the occasions to beg for forgiveness are quickly multiplied and amplified in life, as when you speak evil of your neighbor, or your neighbor speaks evil of you; as when your actions – whether out of negligence or spite - result in serious injury, or even death to another.

Today your Father in heaven calls you to examine yourself in light of His Law and the enormity of your transgression against Him. Your idolatry. Your lack of trust. Your hatred and envy. Your pride. All of those things which, by all rights, He is entitled to enter into judgment against you.

The Lord God is a perfect Master of His accounts, and He knows precisely where you are lacking. For example, the Lord will not hold Him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.

When was the last time you begged for mercy? It is less than an hour ago when you said, “O most merciful God, who has given Your only-begotten Son to die for us, have mercy upon us.” Likewise did you sing: “Enter not into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight shall no one living be justified.”

What it at stake with your begging for mercy? Nothing less than your life. Your temporal life. Your eternal life. Your soul. Your body. Everything. These your Father is heaven has spared for you through His only Son, Jesus Christ, crucified, dead, and buried. Risen from the dead to live and reign for you to all eternity.

Again, you do not have the means to repay. You never will. It is God who has the means, first by delivering His only Son up for you on the cross, and now by delivering the fruits of His innocent suffering, death, and resurrection into your heart, mind, body, and soul - through Holy Baptism into His Name and very being, through His Holy Supper, and through Holy absolution spoken through His servants.

Offenses are bound to come your way, just as they came to Joseph, the Son of Isaac, who was sold into slavery just because his brothers were jealous. How petty is that, and yet how far reaching the consequences?

Joseph was given to be the proclaimer of good news to his brothers, forgiving their sin and loving them, because he, by the Word and Spirt of God understood, as you do by that same Word and Spirit, that He does not deal with us as our sins deserve, for He is slow to anger, abounding in mercy.

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones."

This you know not in part, but indeed, for Christ is risen from the dead, having been put to death for your transgressions and then raised again from the dead so that whatever wrongs you commit in your body and with your mouth and thoughts may be taken away.

You are a new creation in Him. God the Father entered into judgment against His Son, His only Son, Whom He loved, heaping all transgression and sin upon him to that you are now most pleasing in His sight.

Offenses are bound to come your way, some of them very serious. Some of them not so much. But all of them without a single exception are taken away by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

It is the part of a priestly kingdom, a holy people, to forgive trespasses and sin. You belong to that kingdom. You are that holy people. God the Father Almighty has placed the Cross of His beloved Son into your midst and life; into your hearts and minds and bodies by His Word and Spirit so that you may freely exercise toward your neighbor the full and complete forgiveness of trespasses and sin, whether it be toward those who offend you in a small way, or toward those whose offenses cry out to God for swift and immediate retribution.

Therefore you, O priestly kingdom, O holy people, redeemed of the Lord and baptized into The Holy One of Israel, Christ Jesus, love and forgive one another and your neighbor, as your Father in heaven gives you grace and strength to do so.

You may not be called upon to be a martyr like Polycarp, or like those who are being martyred this very hour for confessing Christ. For you, whose very life and being are now placed into and comprehended in the cross of Christ Jesus, forgiveness, patience, love, endurance – along with persecutions – are your lot in every station and place where you go.

Teach me to do what pleases You, for You are my God;
let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
Revive me, O Lord, | for Your name’s sake;
for Your righteousness’ sake, bring me out of trouble.
Lord, hear my prayer, and in Your faithfulness heed
my supplications; answer me in Your righteousness.

Your Father in heaven is not slack in answering your pleas for mercy. He has taught you to pray, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The depths of His mercy in Christ Jesus are inexhaustible. They are from everlasting to everlasting, and so you need not keep an accounting when it comes to those who trespass against you, as if it is the end when your neighbor – your spouse, your co-worker, your brother or sister, you father or mother, or even the stranger who cuts you off in traffic, sins against you the 491st time. (For those of you with a common core, that is seventy time seven, plus one.)

You sin daily and much. God the Father daily and richly forgives, and does so with a joyful heart.

O Lord, let your mercy be upon us, as our trust is in you, through Christ Jesus who four our sakes is crucified and risen from the dead; Whose body and blood we are about to receive.

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