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Christmas Day Sermon 2017:Immanuel so that Jesus

1/1/2018

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.

Before Joseph had come together with Mary she was found to be pregnant. Joseph had to think about this. Of course, he wasn't thinking how this could have happened. Joseph knew how women got pregnant. Rather, because he was a merciful man, he was thinking how to divorce Mary, while causing the least amount of shame to her. Yet, Joseph didn't know. He didn't know how Mary became pregnant, because Mary became pregnant in a different way than any women has ever become or ever will become pregnant. Mary is a virgin. And she's pregnant with a child. There was no man. Jesus has no human father. This was done by the power of the Holy Spirit, without any flesh or blood or will of a man. This pregnancy was a miracle.

Now, why is it significant that Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus? The prophet Isaiah tells us, "They shall call his name "Immanuel, which means, God with us. Jesus does not have a human father. Rather, the Holy Spirit caused him to be conceived from the flesh of the Virgin Mary. The child is sinless. He did not inherit original sin from Joseph. And the child is God. His name, Immanuel doesn't simply mean that God is with him the way God was with the prophets and King David, and spoke through them. No, this title Immanuel means that the name-bearer is God. God is with us forever by joining our human flesh to himself.

Our Gospel lesson clearly identifies the Word as God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And Scripture clearly says, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." God is with us in the flesh of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. He has a human body just like us. He has a human soul, just like us. He has a human will, just like us. Jesus is like us humans in every way, except he is not corrupted with sin as we are. This same Jesus is God, the God who created all things. Through him all things were made and without him was not anything made that was made. And this same God is now a created human being, even a young baby in a manger.
And why is it so important for Jesus to be true God and true man? The angel tells us: "You shall call his name, Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." The name Immanuel is strongly connected to the name, Jesus. Immanuel means God with us. Jesus means, The Lord saves. Jesus had to be Immanuel in order for him to be Jesus. Only God become man could saves us from our sins.

Sin is a serious problem. All human beings are sinners. We inherited this from our first parents Adam and Eve. Because Adam sinned, all of us his children are born in sin as King David laments, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:5) And this sin is not just a little hick up. Sin corrupts us completely. Ephesians 2 states, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins, in which you once walked." And in Romans 7 St. Paul confesses, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh." Sin corrupts completely. And sin isn't anything to laugh at. It is wickedness. Sin causes us to not believe in God. It causes us to hate God and our neighbor. Evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, these all flow from within us, because of our sin. Our selfishness, our ability to hurt others by what we say and do, this is sin.

And sin has serious consequences, even more serious than the shame it causes our conscience and the pain it causes our neighbor. The wages of sin is death. And sinners fall short of the glory of God and are condemned to hell. So, all of us are wholly corrupted by sin. And sin kills us and condemns us. So, yes, we need to be saved from sin.

And this is why it was so necessary for Christ to become a man. And this is why it is so marvelous that God now dwells with us. Sin corrupts us so completely and rules our heart like a pilot steers the rudder of a ship. Ephesians 2 states that in our sin we "follow the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." Satan surely is at work in us. His desire is to corrupt us completely with sin. If it were possible, Satan would love to be incarnate himself and join himself permanently to our human race. But as successful as the devil is, he cannot himself become man. And as deeply as sin has corrupted mankind, so that no human being is without sin nor can anyone free himself from the bonds of sin, sin is not essential to be human.

When our God became man, he did not become a sinner. He did not inherit Adam's sin. Yet, he still became entirely human. Sin isn't essential to be human, meaning, it is possible to be a human and to be without sin. There is no human being who has been or will be born without sin, save alone Jesus Christ. That is because we are all corrupted humans. However, God did not create us to be sinners. Christ did not become like a human in every way. Christ became a human being without sin.

And so, as successful the devil was and as completely sin has corrupted our race, the devil could not become human nor could sin become the essence of humanity. Yet, God has become man. God has joined our race more closely than Satan or sin ever could. And he did this so that he could defeat Satan and sin on our behalf. With the confidence that our flesh and blood now sits enthroned in heaven, we can taunt Satan and sin when they attack our conscience, as Paul Gerhardt wrote in a stanza for O Jesus Christ, Thy Manger Is, which is not included in our hymnal:

Be still, O foe!/ Dost thou not know:
My Friend, my flesh and blood, in heav'n is seated?
What thou didst smite/ The Prince of might
From Jacob's root to glory elevated!

God is man forever. We are sinners now, but the day will come when we will no longer be tainted by sin. Yet, God will still be our brother. God became Immanuel in order for him to save us from the corruption of sin and the molestation of the devil. If Satan wants to attack us, he must attack Christ. For sin to condemn us, it must condemn our God!

Immanuel with no sins of his own took our sins from us, so that he could die for them in our place. God stepped on the scale in our human flesh and raised our sins up so that their debt could never weigh us down again. This is the message the angel is telling Joseph when his virgin bride became pregnant. This is what God is telling us through Isaiah by naming this child God-with-us. This is why the baby in Bethlehem is given the name The Lord Saves!

God became man without the help of man. Joseph didn't do anything to cause Mary to become pregnant. In fact, by his doing nothing God was able to secure for us that Immanuel has come. It is impossible for sinful flesh to cause God to save. Likewise, there is nothing your sin corrupt flesh could do to cause you to be born of God. This too is God's doing. To receive the benefits of Immanuel, you must receive him through faith. Sin cannot believe. So, God must bring a birth by the Spirit. Our Gospel lesson states, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." And our Epistle states, "He saved us, not by works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit." It is through the power of the same Holy Spirit, who caused Jesus to be conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary without Joseph's help, that you are reborn through the work of the same Jesus.

Christmas is about the Lord saving us by becoming Immanuel. He did this without our help. He always saves without our help. It is the only way he does save. And this is what makes our salvation certain. God has done it. He has defeated Satan and sin for us. He is our Immanuel.  He is our Jesus. Amen.

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Christmas Eve 2017: The Government Shall Be Upon His Shoulder

1/1/2018

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Isaiah 9:2-7
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-20

"For unto us a child is born,
To us a son is given;
And the government shall be upon his shoulder,
And his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it
With justice and with righteousness
From this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."

And the government shall be upon his shoulder. Yet, this child is born in a stable far away from his parents' home, because the government forced them to relocate to Bethlehem to be registered, so that the Caesar could tax them. It certainly doesn't look like the government is upon this little boy's shoulder. Jesus isn't born in a palace nor even in a great city. And at no point in his life does he even rule a square mile of land to call his kingdom. And Caesar Augustus likely lived and died without even knowing that this Prince was born in the City of David.

So, what does it mean that the government would be upon Christ's shoulder and that his kingdom would be established forever? It sure doesn't look like a mighty kingdom! Well, it isn't an earthly government, as Jesus, himself, said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." That little baby in the manger has not come to threaten Caesar's reign or even King Herod, who illegitimately sits on David's throne. Jesus has not come to establish an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly kingdom. He has not come to displace physical rulers, but to displace the ruler of this world, Satan, to destroy his kingdom and establish a spiritual kingdom in its place.

A spiritual government is much different than the physical governments we are used to dealing with. Yet, when we speak of God's kingdom being different from earthly kingdoms, we are not saying that God has nothing to do with earthly rule. Rather, every ruler on earth is God's servant. Caesar and Herod, Trump and Putin, even Kim Jong Un. All governments, both good and evil, are God's servants to do good. God established earthly government to curb evil. That is why God has given government authority to punish criminals and to tax. This means that when governments punish criminals, protect their citizens, and carry out justice fairly they are doing their God given duty. However, governments often go beyond their God given duty and abuse their power. Nevertheless, they are God's servants to do what is good.

Jesus does have authority over all the kingdoms of this world, but he has not come to deal with this side of his authority. First of all, all earthly governments are temporary. Had sin not entered the world, God would not have established earthly governments. And since sin will be eradicated once and for all, no earthly kingdom will last forever. The governments of this world do not deal with eternity. The goal of any government is to secure temporary peace. The government's obligation to you is to protect you and your property from criminals and provide justice when crimes are committed. The government does not, however, promise to keep you alive forever. Nor does the government preach the Gospel to you or have any control over your life after death. The government's obligation to you ends once you die.

Not so with Christ's government! There will be no end to Jesus' government. This doesn't just mean that Jesus' rule will endure as each generation passes away, but Jesus will continue to govern even the dead! And so, Jesus has no dealings with the earthly governments even as he comes to establish his own. All these earthly governments will pass away at the appointed time. Christ's government will continue forever.

And so, Jesus does not go to war with our physical enemies or over throw earthly kings. Rather, Jesus wars against our spiritual enemies: sin, death and the devil. And this leads us to another major difference between Christ's spiritual government and earthly governments. Governments here on earth take. They tax, confiscate property, send your sons (and if possible, even your daughters!) off to war. Jesus, however, gives. He doesn't take anything from us, except our sins. He doesn't tax us or make us his slaves. Rather, he comes and serves us in a way no earthly ruler ever would or could.

St. Paul says in our Epistle lesson that we are "waiting for the appearing of the glory of our God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession..." The child born is a human being, just like us. Yet, this Son given to us is also our Mighty God. His coming as a baby in a manger glorifies God. That is why the angels sing, "Glory to God in the highest." An earthly king is glorified when his army wins a major battle or if his congress can pass a tax plan. Our God is glorified when God the son reclines in a manger as a little baby.

This glorifies God more than any victory on a battle field could, because this is how God wins the spiritual battle for us. Sin has condemned all mankind. None has escaped sin's poison dart. We are all guilty and deserve God's wrath. We must be punished. So, our God comes and joins our human race. This baby will not grow up to be a mighty prince, but to be a sacrificial victim. He gives himself to redeem us. He took on our human flesh and blood, so that he could give his flesh over to be scourged and his blood to be shed on our behalf. This is why it is so important for all Christians to celebrate Christmas! For us to escape hell, our God needed to give himself for us! And he did! Sleeping in that manger is the only being, who can pay the ransom price for our sins! He is a human being, just like us! This means he is able to live under the Law, which accuses us of sin. This means he is able to die a human death. Yet, he is forever without sin. So, he does not die for his own trespasses, but for ours. And he is the mighty God. This means his death is not merely the death of a good man, but the death of God. Now you see the scale rise. What amount of heinous sins could be measured against the death of God?!

And this is why the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes remains no threat to the governments of Caesar and Herod, yet he sends Satan and his demonic legions fleeing for the hills. He comes to stop God's Law itself from condemning us! This little baby conquers our spiritual enemies by means of his own blood, the only blood that is both human and divine by the mystery of Christ's two natures united in one Person.

Our Prince of Peace purifies for himself a people for his own possession. We, who have received this child in faith are that people. We are the citizens of Christ's heavenly kingdom even now as we live here on earth! We hear often how we are heirs of eternal life and of the kingdom of heaven, which we are. Yet here, the Holy Spirit makes clear through the Apostle Paul that we are Christ's inheritance. We are his special people, which he has redeemed for himself by giving himself as the redemption price! As Jesus himself says in John 10, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." (vss. 27-28) You are Jesus' inheritance. Jesus will not lose his inheritance. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.

Now Jesus bringing a spiritual kingdom has thrown many people off. It's easy to find an earthly kingdom. How do you find a spiritual kingdom? The angel told the shepherds, "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." That is how they knew how to find the Prince of Peace and how to recognize this Spiritual Government, which has come to rule their hearts. But what sign should we mark? How do we know how to recognize God's Kingdom?

In Luther's Small Catechism you learned, "How does God's kingdom come? God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity." We recognize where God's kingdom is here on earth by recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit through God's Word. How did the shepherds become citizens of the baby Christ's kingdom? They believed the words spoken by the angels concerning Christ. This is the only way you can become a citizen of heaven, through faith in God's Word.

So what signs has God given us? Well, there is Baptism, water and the word. Not only does Jesus command that all nations be baptized, but he promises that it saves, gives rebirth, and washes away sins. So, just as the angel says, "This will be a sign for you, you will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger," so our Lord says to us, "This will be a sign for you, you will find me in Baptism." And through remembrance of our Baptism, we know that Christ fights for us. Christ gave us the Sacrament of his body and blood to eat and drink. This will be a sign for you, our Lord says, you will find me wrapped in bread and wine, given to you to eat and to drink. Here we receive the fruit of Christ's cross, the food meant for the citizens of his spiritual kingdom.

And so, Jesus' kingdom comes to us today very similarly to how it came to the shepherds that night. The shepherds heard a sermon of good news, the Gospel, from the angel. And then they heard a hymn sung to God by the choir of angels. Then they followed the signs to see Jesus. And so, in church today, we hear a sermon of good news, the Gospel of salvation through Jesus, we sing hymns to God (even the same hymn as the angels sang), and we follow the signs to our Savior.

Jesus continues to rule his kingdom. Yet,he does this through his Word and Sacraments. Jesus doesn't rule from the outside by means of force. Rather, he rules your very heart by making his dwelling there through faith. The shepherds weren't compelled by force to bow down to Jesus as their king. They ran to him with haste, because they believed the message of the angels. Jesus became their Prince of Peace through faith. And through that same faith he governs our hearts by forgiving our sins and giving his Holy Spirit to us without measure.
Let us pray:

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Prepare a bed, soft, undefiled,
A quiet chamber set apart
For you to dwell within my heart.
Amen.

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Advent 4 Sermon: Rejoice in the Peace of the Lord

1/1/2018

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Philippians 4:4-7
December 24, 2017

A self-proclaimed atheist once told me, "I don't need religion to be happy." Which I thought was a strange thing to say, because I'm not a Christian in order to be happy and there are many unhappy Christians. And an unbeliever can be happy, I suppose. Well, it depends how you define happiness. If we are talking about the Epicurean principle of pain being bad and pleasure being good, then sure, an unbeliever can be happy for a while. They can enjoy good food, spend time with friends, be healthy, wealthy, and safe. Of course, all this only lasts for a while, and is very temperamental and subject to ruin even at the slightest disruption.

St. Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. This is where people get the idea that Christians have to always be happy or that one is even a Christian, so that he can be happy. But such people are missing an important modifier: rejoice in the Lord always. Do not rejoice in your money or your job or your healthy relationships or your home or your freedom. No, rejoice not in these. Rejoice in the Lord always! This is not to say that you should not thank God for these things when God blesses you with them. But do not base your constant rejoicing in them.

St. Paul was in prison when he wrote these words, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice!" Is that surprising? Well, I suppose it would be if Paul rejoiced in his freedom from prison. But Paul rejoiced rather in the Lord. Did prison take the Lord away from Paul? Certainly not. So, prison also didn't take away Paul's reason for rejoicing.

Paul's rejoicing is in the Lord, who has saved him. He rejoices in Jesus Christ, who bore his sins on the cross and won peace with God our Father in heaven. No loss of property or friends or freedom here on earth can take that away. The unbeliever's rejoicing is dependent on things going well in this life or at best having an optimistic attitude when things go bad. The atheist told me she didn't need religion to be happy. In many ways that statement was truer than she knew. Will God make you happy? Unless you know God's mercy through Jesus Christ, no, he won't make you happy! Instead, God will terrify you! Can you imagine an all-powerful judge? And you don't know what he thinks of you? What a relief it would be for him just to go away. So, the unbeliever finds temporary happiness by hiding from God's presence and pretending that he doesn't exist.

Paul does not want you to rejoice in temporary happiness, that depends on ignoring God's wrath and focusing on fleeting pleasures. Paul wants you to rejoice that the God who is your judge has shown mercy to you. Rejoice that God loves you and forgives you all your sins. Rejoice that he has given you a Savior, who will not pass away forever. Jeremiah the prophet writes, "Thus says the LORD: 'Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.'" (Jeremiah 9:23-24) In short, St. Paul writes, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord." (2 Corinthians 10:17) God wants your rejoicing to be in Jesus, who will never pass away, no matter what trials you might go through on this earth.

Can you rejoice if you lose all your money? Not if your rejoicing is in your money. But if your rejoicing is in the Lord, you can rejoice whether you are rich or poor. Can you rejoice when you are sick? Not if your rejoicing is based on your health. But if your rejoicing is in Christ, then surely you can still rejoice. What if your husband dies? Or if your wife divorces you? Or when you die? Can you rejoice in the Lord even then? Yes, for the Lord does not stop being your Savior when sickness, death, or tragedy hit. If these things cease your rejoicing, then your rejoicing is not in the Lord, but in your wealth, health, good relationships, and life. But Scripture promises that losing these things cannot take Christ away from us, as St. Paul writes, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

Now this is not to say that a Christian can't be sad. Jesus himself wept. The apostles mourned. You can mourn the death of your spouse, feel the emotions brought upon by the devastation of divorce; you can weep and even have righteous anger, all while being a Christian. St. Paul is not telling you that you cannot be sad and be a Christian. He is telling you not to let your sadness bring you to despair. Rather, at all times let the truth that Christ has redeemed you rule your heart and mind.

"Let your reasonableness be known to everyone." That is, let your gentleness, your equity, your meekness be known to everyone. Do not try to defend your honor or make yourself greater than another. Treat everyone with fairness. Do not worry about losing; your property, your social standing, your pride. Why? Because the Lord is at hand. There is nothing man can do to you that will take away your reason for rejoicing. So, do not worry about getting even, be generous, put the best construction on things, you are not jeopardizing your reason to rejoice.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplications with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." "Do not be anxious about anything." That means, no matter how badly you need something or how serious the situation is, or how dire it looks, do not be anxious. There is nothing that you need that the Lord will not provide for you, no matter how big. "But in everything.... let your requests be made known to God." There is nothing so insignificant that you do not need God to provide it for you. St. Paul is teaching us to depend on God for everything, both great and small. No matter how big it is, do not doubt that God will provide it for you. No matter how small it is, do not forget that even that depends on God's goodness. And if you rejoice in the Lord always, because of his eternal blessing, you also know that you can trust in the Lord for your daily bread.

"And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." We're not talking about a peaceful afternoon nap or even peace between warring nations. We're talking here about the peace that confounds the entire earth. Jesus says, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27) This is peace that cannot be achieved by any human effort, and so also it cannot be lost as earthly peace so quickly passes. Romans 5 states, "Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." There it is! We're talking about peace with God! This is not something we can achieve with our works. This is something that is given to us as a gift, as the angels proclaimed on Christmas night, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace good will to men!"

The angels didn't tell the shepherds that wars would cease or even that they would have a quiet night. They told the shepherds that Jesus, the Savior of the World was born. They told them that wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger was the source of God's peace with each of us sinners. Jesus, our God is now a man forever and he has come to pay our debts and set the score between God and sinners by becoming a sinner in our stead. (Not that Jesus himself ever sinned, but he bore our sins for us). This is peace that will cause rejoicing throughout the generations, which will not be silenced by wars and pestilence.

This peace surpasses all understanding. This means that we cannot acquire it through our reason. We must receive this peace through faith. And so, this peace can only come to us through God's Word. And it comes to us today, just as it came to the Shepherds through the voice of angels. This peace was shared by Paul to his hearers and readers. This is why the pastor shares this peace after every sermon, because it is peace that comes to you through the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus for you, which should be the focus of every Christian sermon.

This peace will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Not, "may this peace" as if we give a request or hope that this peace will guard your hearts and minds. No, this peace will guard your hearts and minds. That's what faith delivered through the Gospel does. It guards the hearts and minds of the Christian. This peace is a fruit of the Spirit, as St. Paul writes in Galatians 5, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (vss. 22-23) When Paul tells you that this peace of God will guard you, he is saying that the Holy Spirit, whom you have received through the Gospel, will work in you and through you to live as a child of God. This means you will be gentle to your fellow man. This means you will not be anxious, but in all things with prayer and supplications you will make your requests known to God. When you do such things, you know that the Holy Spirit is working in you through the peace you have received in the Gospel.

This peace of God was won by Christ Jesus for you. And it is this peace, which is the source of your rejoicing. It is peace given to you by the Lord himself coming to you. Tonight, we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus, who came to make us right with God. And Jesus has not left us. He is still a human being, just as he was as he lay in the manger. He is with us through his Gospel of peace. And he will be with us in heaven for all eternity. Our Lord Jesus will always be with us. And so, God's peace will always be with us. And so, we will go on rejoicing, through sin and temptation, sickness and death, even in eternity. Amen.

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"For faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." ~ Romans 10:17

Christmas Day Sermon 2017:Immanuel so that Jesus

Christmas Eve 2017: The Government Shall Be Upon His Shoulder

Advent 4 Sermon: Rejoice in the Peace of the Lord

Rev. James Preus

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