January 16, 2022                                      Text:  John 2:1-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

    When you plan a wedding you make decisions.  At Toni and I’s wedding we decided to just purchase one keg of beer and when it was drained…well, it was drained.  Because we were the third of three weddings at the large LCMS church in Ft. Wayne where we exchanged vows, we had to do all of our pictures after the wedding.  This meant a lot of time for people to imbibe before we even got there.  Since I had just graduated from the seminary 2 weeks before it was one of my fraternity buddies or seminary pals who came up to me and wondered if I could turn their water and soda into a another keg of beer.  We didn’t.  They understood.  My friends have always remarked what a wonderful time they had that weekend.

    Today Jesus is about to begin His public ministry.  At a wedding of all places.  A small crisis is about to ensue.   What will happen?  Where will the guests turn?  A good reminder for us who have been through a lot at our church this past month.

“COMMIT IT TO JESUS”

    Let’s set the scene, “On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus was also invited to the wedding with his disciples.  When the wine ran out…” (vs. 1-3a)  Wedding celebrations went on for seven days and running out of wine was a major faux pas.  It was an embarrassment for the family and the bridegroom’s family was liable to a lawsuit.  Something a little more serious than today.  

    Who notices?  Mary.  “The mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’  And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what do this have to do with me?  My hour has not yet come.’  He mother said to the servants, ‘ Do whatever he tells you.’” (vs. 3b-5)

    Jesus’ response sounds a little disrespectful to our ears.  Actually it was just formal.  Jesus has a different interest and purpose than his mother.  Jesus’ “hour” is the cross, His suffering and death, but also His resurrection and glorification.  This was His future but “not yet.”

    Mary had faith in her Son.  She didn’t know what he would do, but she knew he would do the right thing.   She committed the situation to Jesus and she knew He would take care of it.  He took care of it beyond her imagination.  Jesus changed 180 gallons of water into wine.  This was excellent wine.  Jesus gave the couple a gift of extreme value.  If there was any wine left they could sell it and have a good financial cushion to begin their married life.

    Do we ever feel like Mary?  This month we have dealt with many things out of our control.  A barely hanging on furnace.  A new furnace caught up in the global slowdown of goods and services.  A 100% hike in natural gas prices and furnaces running and running as we try to dry out a building that suffered a water deluge.  We had things fail that should have helped the situation.  Lord, how much more.  Are you there?

    The first sign.  Last Sunday’s Old Testament lesson from Isaiah.  If you weren’t on the worship service from our living room these were the words you missed, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”  Come again Lord.  “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.”  We can commit our problems to Jesus, knowing that He will take care of them.  

    How do we know that?  The cross of Jesus is His promise and guarantee that He will hear and answer our prayers.  He has borne our sin.  He has washed away our punishment.  The water and the damage and the gas prices and the furnace and our individual situations are all wrapped in his body and sacrificed in our place.  He rose again to remind us of new life and our temporary suffering that will end now and our suffering that will end permanently when we see Jesus face to face in the glory of heaven.  We are His beloved children.  

    The setbacks will come but “this too shall pass.”  Jesus told Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)  

    We have worries and concerns.  Most beyond our control.  Mary knew that as well and committed the situation to Jesus.  He took care of it.  His grace and love and divine power showed what He could do.  

    The last line of our text says, “His disciples believed in him.”  Toward the end of John’s gospel are these words; “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (Jn. 20:31)  Life in his name . . . when we commit to the Lord.

                                        Amen. 

January 9, 2022 – Baptism of our Lord                Text:  Luke 3:15-22

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Zeno of Elea was a 5th century BC mathematician and philosopher known for paradoxical thought experiments.  Here is one such experiment.  Imagine walking across a street.  Now imagine that after your first step, you are required to limit each further step to one half of the distance of the previous step.  You take a two-foot step and then a one-foot step and then a six-inch step and then a three-inch step.  The paradox occurs because we keep halving our distance in miniscule movements.  In other words, Zeno is observing the possibility of constant, forward motion that never arrives at a destination.  Zeno’s paradox has us always moving, seemingly making progress, but never getting anywhere.

    Ever felt that way about life?  Or equate the paradox with eternity?  Will you get where you want and need to go?  And what does this have to do with Jesus’ Baptism?  Let’s find out together . . .

“THE DESTINATION IS IN SIGHT!”

    Our eyes are directed in our Gospel lesson to people in expectation.  They are waiting for something to happen.  The Israelites could appreciate Zeno’s thought experiment.  For generations they moved a lot but never seemed to get to their desired destination.

    The people were expectant but also in a predicament.  Caesar and the Roman Empire oppressed them.  Herod and their local government abused them.  They were weary of their national heritage and their earthly descendancy from Abraham was getting them nowhere.  Heaven certainly appeared closed on this day.

    We identify with their predicament.  We have our own troubled days.  We too experience weary frustration on the banks of the Covid River.  We have seen the failure of human knowledge, human rules, and human government to bring us to the destination that we seek.  We are men and women endlessly moving, but never getting anywhere.

    Since the Fall we are powerless to do anything about it.  Stubbornly we refuse to admit we have a problem.  After all, we are moving forward, aren’t we?  If we just try a little more we will get there, won’t we?

    The people in our text think the amazing John might be their solution.  John understands his limited power and unworthiness.  He can’t even untie sandals.  Human beings can’t create things that aren’t there.  The dinner you make is limited by the ingredients that you have.  If we expect human solutions from the ingredients of human knowledge, human rules, human politics, human ability, we will always be disappointed, always moving but never getting anywhere.

    Don’t despair, oh little soul.  Everything changes in verse 21:  “When Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened.”  The heavens are opened!  The destination is in sight!  For the first time since the Garden of Eden and for all time evermore, the destination is reachable.  The Son of God, fully human, yet fully divine, in future time and timelessly crucified and risen from the dead, enters the waters of Baptism.  In this man the finite and infinite are miraculously made into one.  “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” (v. 22)

    Jesus Christ is revealed by the Father’s voice.  Jesus, the only perfect human worthy of perfection has opened the infinite destination.  It is opened because He is the Creator of that destination.  Heaven is open to Christ because it belongs to Him.

    How does Jesus’ baptism end our predicament?  Because Jesus, Word in the flesh, in a miraculous way; remains in the water of Baptism.  He enters the water for all of eternity so that He might meet us in our Baptism.

    In the water of our Baptism, our failures as humans are killed with Christ upon the cross.  The life-giving Spirit creates faith, which gives this life.  Paul writes, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4)

    Rejoice!  The destination is in sight!  What you could not achieve yourself has been granted to you by the power of God’s Son.  You have the assurance of heaven.  Have confidence in the Baptism of Jesus.  Have confidence in your Baptism.  We were powerless when Water and Word were used at our place of Baptism.  We are still powerless to progress to our destination.  Christ has ended our predicament, He has solved our problem, and He provides the means to arrive at our heavenly home.  True progress has been provided.  The destination is in sight! 

                                    Amen.   

January 2, 2022 – Epiphany                            Text:  Matthew 2:1-12

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Are you a skeptic?  Are you a person that questions everything and you have to see things to believe them?  I suppose for many of us our skepticism has to do what we are being asked to believe.

    One of the three definitions of a skeptic in the dictionary is this one:  “one who doubts or disbelieves in religious tenets.”  That number is growing.  Atheists believe we have outgrown God.  Adherence to Christianity is declining and more people are answering “none” when its come to their religion.  

    But we are an odd people.  We never had more Christmas movies than this past year.  Shopping revenue was up to its highest total in years.  Radio stations and TV stations devoted a whole month to Christian hymns and songs.  Commercially speaking, Christmas’s star is rising.  How is spiritual adherence to Christianity waning when the popularity of its holiday is waxing?

    Perhaps because we desperately need hope and positivity in an increasingly cynical and negative world.  Frosty the Snowman and Buddy the Elf offer both these attributes without asking us to make spiritual commitments.  In our divided world we need things that bring us together.

    Today we celebrate Epiphany.  We are still in the Christmas season.  Let’s see where being a skeptic or being a believer takes a person.  

“ARE YOU AN EPIPHANY SKEPTIC?”

    Perhaps Christmas can be on the rise, yet Christianity on the decline, because for too long sincere questions have gone unanswered.  Is it reasonable to believe that someone could be born of a virgin?  Did God guide really guide astrologers – wise men – from the East with a star to visit a child who would be king of the universe?

    Well, in fact, God did.  The skeptic in our story is Herod.  Oh, he does a nice job of disguising his skepticism.  He goes so far as to say that he wants to worship the child.  But this was not true.  Herod was scared of the power that Jesus was bringing.  He saw His kingdom crumbling because there was a new King in town.  Herod was one of the greatest skeptics the world has ever known.  He was skeptical of everyone.  He had many of his own family murdered or imprisoned.  He had no trust, no solid rock to believe in.  He was an island and he always felt he was being invaded.

    Are you an Epiphany skeptic?  Come on, a star to guide these fellas?  A dream to switch travel plans?  We can be a little skeptical about it all.  Commercial Christmas wears off.  The salve does not heal.  We are left with nothing to face the doldrums of January and February.  For many, life has more Januarys and Februarys than it does Decembers.  Shorter and colder days and the festive mood wears off.

    The believers this day – the non-skeptics – are the Wise Men.  They don’t question, they follow.  They don’t hold back, they give gifts freely.  They don’t downplay the birth; they worship with joy at the sight of the Christ Child.  Matthew says when seeing the star “they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”

    They could do that because they knew that this birth was tied to a Savior.  Christmas is more profound when we tie it with another Christian holiday – Easter.  The heart of the Christian message is that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter to prove that His death on the cross paid for our sins.  Through His resurrection, He shows Himself to be the Savior.  The Bible insists that if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, the Christian faith is not worth believing. (1 Cor. 15:14)

    Abdu Murray wrote this, “I was once a staunch critic who demanded evidence for Christianity.  After nine years of researching, I found the evidence so compelling that I became a Christian.  I didn’t outgrow my faith in God.  I outgrew my cynicism about Christianity.  The evidence worked strangely in reverse.  The evidence that Jesus rose from the dead implied that His being born of a virgin was mere child’s play.  Christmas makes Easter possible, while Easter makes Christmas meaningful.”

    The miraculous star that led these men to Jesus is an incredible miracle.  But these miracles are all around us.  The miracle of a baby being born.  Each day your heart and lungs do their work is a miracle.  Each day your Baptism is like a fresh shower washing away your sins, leading you to eternal life in Jesus.  On this special church day we are celebrating Epiphany you are offered a miracle in bread and wine.  The Lord Jesus Christ mysteriously gives you His body and blood in this Sacrament to wipe away your skepticism and strengthen your faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.  Thank God for His Word that allows us to see, follow, and worship Him.  We bring our gifts to Christ and His Church so that the star of Jesus is seen by all.

    Like the Wise Men may the Holy Spirit keep us free of skepticism and firmly believing in Christ who came to save the world. 

                            Amen.

December 26, 2021                            Text:  Isaiah 9:2

Dear Friends in Christ,

    Ever asked an older person what they want for Christmas and they tell you that they don’t need anything, they have everything they want.  I get that sentiment as I get older.  I would not have understood it as a child.  But you and I look around at all the blessings the Lord provides and we really do have everything that we need.

    Almost everything.  We need the Lord.  You light up every room in your house like the 4th of July but it is not the same as being in the sunshine.  You can live places that get over 300 days of sunshine like Toni and I did in Littlefield, Texas and a person can still be in spiritual darkness.

    Without God’s sunrise in our lives, without God’s Light of day, Jesus Christ, the darkness can be frightening and oppressive.  It’s the day after Christmas and we continue to celebrate . . .

“THE GREAT LIGHT OF JESUS”

    Our text once again, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”  Israel is in darkness at the time Isaiah wrote this.  The Assyrians have invaded and destroyed the land.  A few survivors struggle to hang on in desolation.  When all hope seems lost, God’s promise comes.  A Light will dawn on them.  It is so certain it is even described in past tense.  “They have seen a great light,” and “on them has light shined.”

    This light is not just for those people despairing in Israel.  It is for all people, Jew and Gentile.  That means when we see our nation growing morally and spiritually weak, when we see so many signs of the last times and when we deal with the upheavals in our own lives, the Light shines for us.  The light shining from Jesus shows He is the way to the kingdom of God.  He keeps us safe through faith no matter what darkness we walk through.  When we have faith in Jesus as our Light, guess what happens to our fears of death and darkness?  They melt away.  They are replaced with joy.

    Seven hundred years after this promise from Isaiah, the Light, dawned.  That’s the message of Christmas.  A few shepherds first receive him.  Later a few Wise Men receive the Light of the world.  While the world is filled with those who received the Christ child in faith the last few days, the doubters and rejecters are all around.

    Herod rejected him.  The priests, Pharisees and Sadducees, for the most part, reject Jesus.  Not many people welcomed Jesus as the Light.  Most people liked the way things were.  After three years of Jesus’ ministry, how many were there in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost?  Only about 120.  John says in his Gospel that Jesus “the true light, which gives light to everyone . . . came to his own and his own people did not receive him.” (John 1:9, 11)  The people who needed Him the most rejected Him.

    A Pastor once called on a woman who was very ill.  She was not going to get better.  She was so afraid that she kept her light on all the time figuring if she were awake she wouldn’t die.  It couldn’t possibly work.  She got exhausted.  Sooner or later she was going to die.  On a spiritual level, she didn’t understand, she was right.  If she could just see the Light, Light with a capital L, she wouldn’t die.  She didn’t need a light bulb.  She needed the light of Christ.  Living by this Light when she took her last breath she would live.  That is the message for us that shines in the Gospel.  Jesus the Light shines in the darkness of death.  He receives us into the eternal light of His heaven.

    There is another story the complete opposite of the lady who was afraid to die.  This woman was in her 80’s and in and out of the hospital.  Her world was shrinking but she still exhibited her faith and generosity.

    Another trip to the hospital came and the Pastor rushed to visit.  She was barely conscious.  The Pastor read Scripture and said a prayer.  He prayed for healing.  He left things in God’s hands and returned a few days later.  His parishioner was now sitting up and talking.  She scolded her Pastor, “I was ready to go and be with Jesus.  But you prayed for me and I got better.”  That woman did not need electric light bulbs to keep her awake.  She’d seen the light in Jesus and could go to sleep in his arms anytime.  

    We don’t stumble in the dark to find Jesus.  On Christmas, the day after Christmas and all the other days we have, Jesus the Light is God’s gift to us through His Word.  Hear the Word with faith, and the Light will dawn.

                                    Amen.