January 12, 2025 Text: Isaiah 43:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

Do you all know what day Friday was? Quitters Day. You have maybe seen the commercial that states, and this is backed by research, that people quit their new year’s resolutions by the 2nd Friday of January. The main reason? People set goals that they cannot reach.
This can all be a pattern for our feeling of being worthless, incapable. Have you ever had a loved one or teacher or coach that told you that you were a disappointment? For most of us in life, the biggest disappointment is when we let ourselves down. Why did I do that? If we could change that sin that still haunts us. The one word we want to take back. The night we lost our virginity, the day we lost our temper, the time we lied, the moment we used the Lord’s name in vain. You can’t take it back. It’s part of the history on your hard drive.
And you don’t want the world to know that you are not the student, citizen, employee, employer, friend, husband, wife, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child, man, or woman that you should be. You don’t want everybody to know you fail God, you fail others, you fail yourself. Worthless. Incapable. Poor, miserable sinner.
Ok, you feel pretty crappy. But let’s get our eyes up. Come on, stop pouting. Our text has something wonderful to share with you . . . there’s a hint of a smile, I can see it. The Bible promise is that . . .
“YOU BELONG AS THE LORD’S”
Let’s get at it. “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you…’” (v. 1a). The words that get us started are “fear not.” The restoration of a shattered Israel is impending. There is a Savior coming. The Israel to be restored will be composed of Jew and Gentile – the Church.
The Church. Not a denomination…but the redeemed. In an instant we are carried from Manger to the Cross. The Christ comes to redeem us – buy us back from the depths of hell because of our sinful ways.
Our belonging as the Lord’s is so personal. “I have called you by name…” (v. 1b). Old Testament scholar H.C. Leupold calls this statement an idiom meaning: “I have appointed you for a very special purpose in a direct way.”
People need purpose. So many people struggle because they have no foundation, no purpose. Monday I was expecting to work from home because of the expected snow. I would work from home but had no big purpose for getting up. When I did get up, I had a text the ladies were convening for Bible Study on Tuesday. Purpose #1 – I would need to go to church to shovel for their early morning arrival. As I shoveled, our custodian Roman Lenart came by to get his gloves he had left earlier in the day. It was time for purpose #2 – his vehicle battery was dead. The Lord made it that I was at church at the time he needed help. We drove to Toni’s work, got the jumper cables, and Roman was on his way.
God gives us the reasons for our existence. We are named. That’s purpose. This naming reminds us of our Baptism. God put His imprint on us in the water and the Word. You thought you were worthless, incapable, a quitter. Come on now, brothers and sisters you have a purpose to draw others to the forgiveness and heaven won by Jesus. You walk out of here as God’s best – the salt of the earth, the light of the world. Named His People forever and ever.
Now the most special relationship. This wonderful expression from the Lord – “You Are Mine.” The Manger – A Cross – An Empty Tomb. It all adds up, doesn’t it? For the sake of Jesus God has a special claim on us. Christ would enter our world to stake His claim on us through His payment for sin at Calvary. Though life can be hard and painful at times we live in the knowledge of Christ’s great love and soon return for us.
When the boys were little, they were a little scared of their first time on a rollercoaster. One talked the whole way up, the other was quiet. The key was that I wasn’t frightened. They caught my eye. I had a smile, said, “This will be fun.” And sure enough, by the time we got off, they were ready to go again. They still enjoy the thrill to this day.
Life can have some scary rides. God doesn’t use them to terrify us – but for us to catch His eye – to teach us that He is in control – that we can trust Him. And most of all, to teach us that because of Jesus we belong to Him – not to this world.
There it is . . . your hint of a smile is now big grin because You Belong As The Lord’s.
Amen.

December 29, 2024 Text: Luke 2:22-40
Dear Friends in Christ,
Today I invite you to live and die with peace. Like St. Simeon. And St. Albert. You’ve met St. Simeon in our text. I will introduce later to St. Albert.
“PEACE FOR LIFE AND DEATH”
When I preach it is always good to be a little uneasy. It helps me to concentrate. Johnny Carson said he was always a little nervous when he performed because it kept his mind on the task at hand. I feel the same way.
Do you think Mary felt a little uneasy as she approached the temple with forty-day-old Jesus? She had never before offered a sacrifice for purification after childbirth. What if she did something wrong? In God’s House. With priests watching.
Mary was not only at the temple for her purification. She arrived with Joseph so that Jesus could be brought back. Ever since God spared every firstborn Israelite male at the Passover, all firstborn Israelite males belonged to God. They had to be brought back. Joseph and Mary intended to buy back the One who would buy them back. They were at the temple to redeem the Redeemer. Wouldn’t that make you nervous?
Now something happens that gives the parents pause. A stranger wants to hold the child. Maybe Simeon was frail or had tremors. We don’t know the conversation, but Simeon ends up with Jesus in his arms. Simeon acts like he is taking one step into heaven. He exclaims, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.” He was holding in his hands God’s salvation.
I read the other day about a 30-year-old who died in the sleeper cab of his truck just resting at a truck stop. You and I do not know when we will die. Simeon didn’t know if he would live more days, weeks, years. It did not matter. He had seen his salvation. He did not need to worry about what his sin would do to him or his status with Almighty God. He didn’t need to worry about his status on Judgment Day. He could depart that temple in peace. Simeon could have peace for life and death.
Wouldn’t you like the privilege of holding Jesus in your hands so you could live and die with peace? You have a greater privilege. You get Jesus in your body in the Lord’s Supper. Simeon knew Jesus was his salvation, but he didn’t know how. You do. You know the cross of Jesus. You know He died for you and me. You have peace because He bore your grief and sorrow. Trusting Him you do not need to worry about your status with the Almighty. Trusting him you do not need to worry about Judgment Day. That baby grew and redeemed you years later. Whether living until tomorrow or into many more decades you can live in peace and die in peace. Like St. Simeon.
And St. Albert. Who is St. Albert? He is a combination of the Christian men who have been a part of my life in three churches I have served in 33 years. From 1991 until now I have been blessed the Lord has put them in my life. What did they all have in common? They all lived and died with peace. What did that look like?
They were faithful in worship and Bible Class. Most of the time in a suit and tie. They knew Sunday was the Lord’s Day. They did no work. They loved their wife. They loved their family and brought them to worship. They didn’t use bad language, because they understood the Lord gives us so many other words to use. They didn’t imbibe excessively. I can still see in my mind seeing them for the last time at the Lord’s altar. By the next Sunday they were with the angels, and archangels and all the company of heaven. They departed in peace because they knew life was more than this brief time on earth. They all knew their Savior was not dead in a tomb. They knew they wouldn’t be abandoned to the grave. Their souls are with the Lord, and they await the resurrection of all flesh. I miss their encouragement and wisdom. But I will see them again. I will see them again. You have the same promise. You, too, can die with peace.
So, today if communing remember the Christ child held by Simeon became the Christ adult who redeemed you at the cross. In the Supper, He comes down to you. He grants you forgiveness and peace.
When we say the Nunc Dimittis we repeat the words of Simeon. Departing in peace. Word fulfilled. Eyes have seen salvation. You can live with peace. And when it is time, you can die with peace. Like St. Simeon. And St. Albert.
Amen.

December 25, 2024 – Christmas. Texts: Exodus 40:17-21, Titus 3:4-7, John 1:1-3, 14

Dear Friends in Christ,

When you see your gifts piled by your chair you learn from their sizes you are not getting a car. Even in childhood your brain could figure out what might possibly be inside. That is because you understand something. A thing can only hold what will fit inside.
It is said, “The finite is not capable of the infinite.” It seems a good rule of thumb. A new car cannot be where it pleases to be. But the key to a new car could be in a small package. Let’s not rule out God being in a package that is too small. The truth is – and we see this best at Christmas – the Lord is big enough to make himself small. He is without bounds. He was before space and time were. He is above them. He is to come.
“INFINITE GIFTS IN FINITE WRAPPINGS?”
John introduces us to Jesus, born of Mary at Christmas and laid on rude straw, as the God we can see and touch with our hands. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
When God stuffed himself into Jesus there was nothing left for us to seek or find or figure out. This action transforms all mystery under almighty God.
We don’t need to wonder, “what is He doing up there with all that almighty power?” We marvel in faith that His almighty power is always aiming precisely at what Jesus is about. “The Word became flesh, . . . and we have seen his glory.” And that is a great gift in a small package of swaddling cloth – the gift of faith.
God in Jesus puts the infinite in the grasp of our finite minds. Glory, grace, and truth come down to earth. God’s glory, God’s grace, God’s truth slept in a manger, hung on a cross, tucked in a tomb, rose from the dead.
God fills a finite thing with His infinite saving power. His Word makes water a saving bath. Titus writes that we are given “a washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” Justified by Christ’s grace we are heirs with the hope of eternal life.
In the Holy Supper, the finite and lowly, mere bread and wine, by His creative Word are made to contain the body and blood of the infinite-become-finite, the immortal-become-mortal, the God-become-man, the dead-become-alive. God can do what He wants, and what can our simple minds say besides amen to the Word who became flesh.
Learn this Christmas, then, not to doubt what God can fit in the packages He sends you, or count them as small among supposedly bigger things. We have run off after the big, wide world and left behind Jesus, seeming small in the manger or powerless in the darkness on the cross. But in that swaddling flesh is the Word that made it all, the light and life of men – and in that flesh lifted up upon a cross is the glory of God revealed to be seen and to save. We’ve neglected the little packages in which God saves – both the receiving of them and the giving of them – in favor of those big packages that always prove empty in the end.
Thanks be to God, the one little package remains – wrapped as a baby and purple robe and shroud, to be wrapped up then for us in Word and water and bread and wine – and, wrapped up so we can find and have it, this one infinite gift. This Word made flesh tells us that the One who is infinite can be where He wants to be – namely Jesus in Word and Sacrament. He can do what He wants to do there – namely, save you and me. Don’t rule God out because you think He’s too big to fit where He’s told you He is. He fits where He wants to, and does what He wants to do and where – that is here in these things. The Word who made all things and became flesh says so. In these little packages we can grasp, all the mystery of God is wrapped up in his will to save – and where the packages are to be grasped, there is the gift of faith. This gift is yours and may it bring you everlasting joy this Christmas and always.
Amen.

December 24, 2024 – Christmas Eve Text: Galatians 4:1-7

Dear Friends in Christ,

Christmas is not ordinary. The song got it right, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. We may not remember past Easters, Pentecosts, or Labor Days, but we do recall a past Christmas memory. Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, was Christmas nostalgia on steroids. We see pictures and aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents – some living, some dead – who pass through our mind. A foretaste of the resurrection. The Episcopal bishop of Boston who wrote “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” Phillips Brooks, included this: “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.” He was right. At Christmas, the past forces itself into the present. This is . . .
“NOT AN ORDINARY DAY”
If Christmas is an extraordinary time of the year for us, it is even more so for God. Like a boxer in the corner of the ring, God was waiting for the bell to square things off with Satan. Christmas is only about us in a derived sense. You cannot say, “Peace on earth,” until you say, “Glory to God in the highest.” God was waiting for what Paul calls “the fullness of time” to reclaim what Satan had taken from Him. God would break into time and become one of us. With the precision of a graceful dancer, God stepped into time and effortlessly adjusted His omnipresence to fit into an eight-pound, ten-ounce baby boy. The Word was made flesh. The mask was taken off the formless face, so we could see, hear, touch Jesus. What was promised was handed around from relative to relative. The promise had given way to the God who was seen, touched, and heard. The infinite was perfectly comfortable in its confinement of the finite. In fact, He loved it. In him, the “fullness,” of God dwells bodily. The inspired version provided by Matthew, Jesus is the Immanuel, “the God with us.”
Europeans do not celebrate a Thanksgiving Day, but they are catching on to the greed of our Black Friday. They too are finding that frenzied holiday shopping can lead to a January reckoning, especially using a debit or credit card, that even the least expensive gifts are not free. Everything comes with a price. Salvation might be free to us – sola gratia – but not to God. The God who gives first pays, and he pays dearly. God is not exempt from the Law that defines Him. God does not pull rank. The God of love is first of all the Lord our righteousness. He stands in line to pay and pay forward for what He did not owe so that we are declared righteous. Release from slavery in the Civil War came with the price of the deaths of thousands of soldiers. So the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”: “As (Christ) died to make men holy, let us die to make men free.”
In the cemetery under a classical New England Church in Jaffrey Center, New Hampshire, lies the grave of John Freedom. Born on the west coast of Africa in 1700 and taken to New England as a slave, he accumulated enough money working as a tanner on the side to purchase his freedom. Then he purchased the freedom of the woman who became his wife.
Release from spiritual slavery comes with a greater price. Luther says that God has purchased and won us from all sin. Fifteen hundred years before Paul said it even better. In the Greek of Galatians 4:5 it pictures a man redeeming or buying back a slave in the marketplace. For us, God went into His innermost being, into what He was as God, and took what was dearest to Him – His Son – and gave Him as the purchase price to free us from the slavery of sin. It was quid pro quo. In fact, it was more than that. His death, our life. He paid more than we were worth. He overpaid. He always does. Our justification was not a hollow tin-sounding absolution spoken by an omnipotent God, but it was our emancipation from sin and Satan, written in the blood of Jesus Christ. What God gives us, He first paid for.
We are no longer slaves. We are God’s children. Brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and heirs of eternal life. The God who redeems us sends the Spirit of that Son into our hearts so that we can speak the language we will perfectly understand only in heaven: “Our Father who art in heaven.”
When gathering the Christmas wrappings you may find a receipt, a reminder the gift is free to you but not to the giver. So it was with God: “But when the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’ So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir.”
Amen.