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

Christmas 1: Odd Christians

12/31/2018

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Luke 2:33-40 
December 30, 2018 
 
There’s an arch book I read to my kids sometimes that starts out like this: 
A long time ago, was a man named Noah 
Who loved and worshiped God.  
This faithful man followed God’s commands 
Even when they seemed quite odd! 
That last line used to bother me a bit. “God’s commands aren’t odd. They’re good and right and true! It’s we, who are odd!” Yet, to this world God’s commands are quite odd. Scripture says as much, even more in 1 Corinthians 1, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1:21) To this wise world, God’s word is foolishness. And it follows that those who hold to God’s word also seem quite odd.  
Simeon was such an odd man. What’s on your bucket list? What do you want to see before you die? Perhaps one of the myriad of historical wonders in Europe? Your granddaughter walking down the aisle? What’s on Simeon’s bucket list? A poor child among many entering the temple in Jerusalem. And we know Jesus’ parents were poor, because they offered a couple pigeons when the Law of Moses actually said, “And when the days of her purifying are completed... she shall bring to the priest … a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtle dove for a sin offering, … And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering.” (Lev. 12:6-8).  
So, Simeon goes up to this young family, who can’t even afford to buy a lamb, and takes their child in his arms and declares to God that he is ready to die! “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word.” This is odd behavior. For a man waiting for the consolation of Israel, you would expect him to wait for a king with as much splendor as King Solomon, who offered 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep at the dedication of the temple. (1 Kings 8:63) 
Yet, because he believes what the Holy Spirit has revealed to him, Simeon believes this poor child to be him, who is greater than Solomon and the temple. He believes this child to be the shoot coming forth from the stump of Jesse, that charred stump, which was once a glorious tree, which bore mighty kings like David and Solomon but was cut down and burned on account of its own idolatry and foolishness. Now, from that stump blooms a rose foretold by Isaiah the prophet. To the world, this is nothing to rejoice at. But to him, who trusts in God’s Word, this child gives the strength to die in peace.  
Simeon tells God that he has seen his salvation that he has prepared in the presence of all people. This infant brings salvation. Not as King David did with the sword. No, this child will do what those thousands and millions of oxen and sheep failed to do, even as their blood covered the altar of God. He will bring salvation from sin, death, and eternal condemnation by means of his own blood. And he will do this not only for Israel, but for all people, the Gentiles along with the Jews, as Isaiah prophesied, “And in that day will come the root of Jesse, even the one who stands to rule the nations, in him the nations will hope.” (Isaiah 11:10 LXX) This Christ-child will not bring forty years of peace within the borders of Israel, but eternal peace for the heavenly Jerusalem, which will be made up of people from every nation.  
But this again is foolishness to the world. You can’t win by dying. The idea that Jesus’ shed blood could purchase anything, let alone the forgiveness of all sins, is ludicrous. It was ludicrous back when Simeon believed it and it is ludicrous now. Today most find it offensive that God would even demand justice for sins or dare to punish transgressors. If God were really just, he would accept us as we are. And the idea that God would demand that his Son die for our transgressions is abhorrent to the wise, who believe we have evolved passed the notion of gods, who demand sacrifice.  
So, the stone which the builders rejected continues to be rejected by the world even after it has been established as the cornerstone of the Christian Church. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is opposed by nearly everyone. Preaching against sin is out of touch. Repentance is archaic. The cross of Christ is grotesque. The belief in the real, historical virgin birth and resurrection of Christ from the dead is naïve. And we who, who believe and preach this are strange, odd people.  
Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce through her own soul as well. This certainly happened when the virgin mother knelt before her dying son as he hung nailed to the cross breathing his last breaths, as any mother would hate to imagine. Yet, Mary also represents the church. And a sword continues to pierce through the church as long as she is called the church militant. Those, who worship Christ will be persecuted just as Christ was. The world that hated Christ still hates those, who follow him. Those who set themselves above Christ will set themselves above his Christians, even many who will claim to sit in the very seat of Christ.  
Yet, those who exalt themselves will fall and those who humble themselves will be exalted. This is what it means to be a Christian. Christians don’t exalt themselves. Jesus exalts Christians. Christians receive by grace, as a gift, through faith. This means that we humbly receive what we do not deserve. This is not the way to become great in this world. But we Christians do not seek to be great in this world. We seek to receive a greater inheritance than this world could ever give. So, we repent of our sins when the world tells us to hold our heads up high. We glory in our sufferings with our hopes set on things that are not visible. We trust in a foolish Gospel while smart people call us dumb. That is the life of odd people, who follow odd commands.  
Anna also was an odd lady. She worshipped God with fasting and praying night and day in the temple. No, she didn’t just go to the Christmas Eve Service and come back again the next morning for the Christmas Day Service. She deprived herself of food. People might look at you funny if you say you’re a vegetarian or that you’re going gluten free. This lady didn’t eat, so that she could train herself to focus more on her Lord and his word. She prayed at all times, with the congregation, at the sacrifices, by herself. She was constantly listening to the word of God and going to smell the sweet incense offered in the temple. She was what many these days would call, “a little too religious.”  
Anna was a strange old lady. Even back then people probably thought she was weird. But she didn’t care. Like Simeon, she too had her hopes set on much more important things. When the Lord revealed to her who the baby Jesus was, she thanked God with all her heart and began speaking about him to all who were waiting the redemption of Jerusalem. This child, who would purchase the heavenly Jerusalem with his precious blood on the cross, gave Anna more joy than an earth full of gold.  
What Anna does in our lesson is what any Christian woman should do. She tells anyone who will listen about Jesus. This is what mothers should do to their children (in fact it is their greatest duty and privilege). This is what wives should to their husbands, ladies to their boyfriends and girlfriends. In fact, this is what all Christians should do. We should talk about Jesus at every opportunity, when we sit in our houses, when we walk on our way, when we lie down and rise, Jesus should be on our heart and tongue.  
Like the Virgin Mary, Anna represents the holy Christian Church. Christ’s church talks about Jesus even if people think she’s weird for doing it. And she proclaims teachings about Jesus that have gone out of style, like repentance and forgiveness, the atoning blood of Jesus, that Baptism saves and the Lord’s Supper is Christ’s true body and blood, and even that only men can be pastors.  
Simeon and Anna were quite odd. They were odd because they followed God’s odd teaching. And if you will believe what God teaches, you are going to seem quite odd as well. Don’t let that bother you. Rather, embrace it. There is nothing that this world can give you that is more precious than the strange Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel gives you something that human intelligence cannot possibly reach, but can be received through faith by even a simple child.  
We are not afraid of seeming odd. That is why we borrow the words of Simeon every Sunday, just as we borrow the hymn of the angels when we sing glory to God in the highest. After receiving the Sacrament, we sing with Simeon, “Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant, depart in peace, according to Thy Word. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people.” In other words, we are saying that we are ready to die. We’ve checked off the most important thing on our bucket list. We have certainty of salvation. To the wise this is madness that after eating some tasteless bread and taking a sip of wine, we declare our readiness to depart this earth. Yet, like Simeon holding the plain baby in his arms, we know that we have seen our salvation, and we have indeed tasted it. Although our eyes don’t tell us this, we believe that we are receiving the body and blood of him who was born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law; the same body that Simeon held in his arms and which hung on the cross. And by receiving this in faith, we truly receive our salvation.  God’s words are more trustworthy than our senses. Let us prepare our hearts then to receive his salvation that we all might depart this life in peace. Amen. 
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Christmas: What We Have in Common

12/25/2018

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John 1:1-14 
Pastor James Preus 
 
I heard on the radio the other day that in order to keep the peace this time of year, especially with this divisive political climate we’re in, we should focus on what we have in common instead of what divides us. Now, this seems like pretty good advice. Instead of arguing whether we should build a wall along our southern border or pull our military forces out of Syria, focus on what unites us as a country and as human beings. The holidays aren’t the time to argue about things out of our control.  
Yet, while this may seem like sage advice, focusing only on what we have in common often times leaves out discussing Jesus and his miraculous birth, because belief in Christ is not something all Americans hold in common. And so, this peace-making advice leaves out the Prince of Peace this Christmas season. And when we see what Scripture says we hold in common, this advice can be disastrous, since St. John tells us the world did not know Jesus. Yes indeed, what we humans have in common is our natural inclination to reject Jesus.  
Yet, risking departing from this advice, let us focus this morning on what the whole world sadly does not hold as a common belief, but what we Christians hold to be true, the story of the incarnation of our God.  
St. John tells us that Jesus is the eternal Word, who was with God and was God from the beginning. All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. So actually, we have learned another thing that we all have in common. All things were made through Christ. This means that all of us were made through him. We all have this in common.  
And John tells us that this Word became flesh, that is, the Son of God became a human being. This happened when Jesus Christ was conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary and first revealed his sacred face to mankind when he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.  
Now, all Christians confess this. We have this in common. Most are happy stopping there. It’s a nice story, but if we delve too deep into its meaning, we are bound to find disagreements among even Christians. And this is true. If we look for the meaning in this miracle, we are bound to find disagreement. Why did God become a human being? Well, to save us. To save whom? To save the whole world? Tragically, many Christians deny this. Although Scripture teaches that Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the whole world, there are still many, who say that Jesus only died for some people. The rationale goes something like this. If Jesus died to save everyone, yet some people are not saved, that means that Jesus’ died for some people who are not saved. That means that his death failed to save them. God cannot fail. Therefore, Jesus could not have intended to save everyone with his death. This is called the limited-atonement. Jesus died to save some, but not others. It’s a logical syllogism, yet it is completely unbiblical.  
The correct biblical teaching is that Jesus died to save everyone. This is why St. John says, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world.” This is the biblical teaching called the Universal Atonement. And this is why John the Baptist bore witness of Christ, that all might believe through him. Jesus died with the purpose of saving all people.  
And this intention is shown from the very beginning. Proverbs 8 says that when Christ, who is called Wisdom, was with God creating the world, he was “delighting in the children of man.” (vs. 31) And this is why John 3:16 tells us the Word became flesh, “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son.” God loved the world. And he sent his Son to save the World.  
When the Word became flesh, he joined himself to the entire human race. Not just Jews. Not just Christians. To all mankind. Jesus shares your flesh and blood. He is a descendent of Adam just as you are. Jesus took on flesh and blood in order to save all who share his flesh and blood. Christmas declares God’s intention to save all people. Christmas declares God’s intention to save you. And here again, we find something we all have in common. So again, you can follow the politically correct radio advice I mentioned earlier and talk about Jesus this Christmas, because he came to save us all.  
Jesus came to save all people, however, not all people are saved. This is a tragedy, yet it is true. Those who teach that all people are saved apart from faith in Christ teach Universalism. Universalism is a dangerous teaching that kills faith. Yet, Universalism has infected many Christian denominations like a malignant cancer, which spreads rapidly. It is an attractive teaching, because it simply throws out hell. There is no condemnation in the teaching of Universalism. Everyone goes to heaven. That means that you don’t have to repent of your sins or believe in Jesus to be saved.  
Yet, this is not what Scripture teaches. Rather, “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Again, Jesus says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:17-18) 
So, it is clear that apart from faith in Jesus, there is no salvation. But this is because apart from Jesus there is no salvation. Jesus saves us and no one else does. And we receive Jesus through faith alone.  
So, it is true that God desires to save everyone, as 1 Timothy 2 declares that God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Yet, some are not saved. So, people conclude that the difference must be in us. It is up to us to choose God. If we accept him, we are saved. However, Scripture is clear that the natural person cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God. Because of our sinful condition, we cannot choose Jesus (remember, that’s one thing we all have in common). This is why St. John writes, “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.”  
You can’t will yourself to be a Christian. You cannot by your own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ your Lord or come to him, but it is the Holy Spirit, who calls you by the Gospel, enlightens you with his gifts, sanctifies and keeps you in the true faith. In other words, you are born a child of God by the will of God.  
This is what it means to be saved by grace. You did nothing to cause God to come down from heaven and be incarnate in the womb of the virgin. You did not convince Jesus to go to the cross nor did you raise him from the dead. Neither did you do anything to accept Jesus into your heart, but God did this for you through the working of the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel. The Holy Spirit enlivened your heart, so that you could accept Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave you a new birth through the washing of regeneration. This was done in your Baptism. And the Holy Spirit continues to keep you in this true faith through the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacrament.  
This is how the Holy Spirit made you a Christian, a child of God.  And this is how God sanctifies and keeps the entire Christian Church on earth in the one true faith. We call the Christian Church the Communion of Saints. That is, a community of holy people, that is, people, whom God has made holy. A community in which each member has something in common, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, the same Holy Spirit dwelling in us. In this communion of saints, we are united by our faith in Christ Jesus.  
So, this holiday season, let us focus on what we have in common as children of God and what unites us as Christians. Jesus Christ, born to save us. He has united himself to us physically by assuming our human nature and he has united himself to us spiritually by granting us a new birth by the Holy Spirit. God forgives all our sins for the sake of Christ’s death and resurrection. This is what we have in common. This is what unites us. And there is no greater bond than that. Merry Christmas. Amen. ​
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Christmas Eve: For unto You Is Born... A Savior

12/25/2018

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Luke 2:1-20 
 
Is this a true story? Was Jesus really born in Bethlehem to a virgin mother? Is Jesus an historical person like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln? Many ask themselves these questions and answer, “no.” They’ll object that very little is written about Jesus during the time he supposedly walked on this earth apart from the Gospels, and well, you can’t really take the Gospels seriously, can you? After all, they are filled with miracles and wonders and were written by religious fanatics! 
Yet, why can’t you take the Gospels of the New Testament seriously? Are they really ahistorical legends? Well, let’s consider them. Four different individuals wrote four different yet complimentary and corroborating accounts about the life of Christ. They give dates, locations, names, list additional witnesses, everything you would desire from an historical report. The Gospel of Luke especially fits this description. Written by a physician named Luke, a companion of Saint Paul and other disciples of Jesus, Luke goes to extraordinary lengths to write a faithful account of what he has seen and heard. The Gospel begins: 
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. (Luke 1:1-4) 
In other words, Luke did his research. He interviewed eyewitnesses, recorded their testimonies, compared his notes with others, and wrote a narrative which agrees with other writings of the same events and which was accepted by those who witnessed these events. Luke is meticulous in his writing, telling us this happened when a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Who, what, where, when; he answers all relevant questions. Humanly speaking, there is no reason to doubt what St. Luke writes in his Gospel concerning what we just heard tonight except for a bias against the supernatural; a virgin conceiving and giving birth and angels appearing before shepherds. If not for these supernatural events, Luke and the other Gospels would be accepted as the finest historical documents of their age.  
Yet, there is much more reason why we, who have stifled our natural bias against the supernatural, should accept what was read tonight besides the fact that Luke followed the highest standards of historical research. Listen to how Luke’s Gospel relates to the prophecies of Isaiah.  
Isaiah says in his 9th chapter, “For to 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 forever more. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.” Compare these words with what the angel said to Mary when he told her she would conceive the Savior, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:31-33) 
Mary asks the angel how this can be since she is a virgin echoing back to the saying of Isaiah in chapter 7, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Of course, King Ahaz never saw this sign. Rather, 700 years afterward the angel said to the shepherds out in the fields outside of Bethlehem, “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”  (Luke 2:12) It was fitting that the angel announced this sign to shepherds outside the city of David, since David himself was a shepherd in those same fields, and it was to him God promised that he would set his son on his throne forever, referring to the Christ (2 Samuel 7:12-16). It is also fitting that the whole company of angels celebrated the birth of this Prince of Peace by singing, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace good will toward men.”  
These are just a few examples of how the Gospels fit together with the prophecies of the Old Testament like pieces in a puzzle. Indeed, there would not be enough time between now and the return of Christ for us to discuss sufficiently all the prophecies of the Old Testament fulfilled in the New by Jesus. And this is why we should regard what we have heard tonight so highly. The reason the Gospel of Luke fits so well with the writings of the Old Testament is not simply because Luke was such a brilliant scholar. It is because Isaiah and Luke have the same author, although they were written over seven hundred years apart by two different men. The Holy Spirit himself is the author of every book of the Bible.  
 Scripture is reliable, because it was caused to be written by God himself. Indeed, the Bible is the word of God. This means that we should regard what we have heard tonight from St. Luke’s Gospel with as much certainty as the Shepherds did the words of the angels on that holy night. 
Not only does this teach us that the Scriptures are reliable, but this tells us to whom they are written. That the Holy Spirit caused these words from St. Luke to be written to be passed down generation after generation, means that they were written for us. It is as St. John wrote in his Gospel, “These things are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31) This means that the words of the angels, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” are not words only for the shepherds, but for you, and me, and indeed all people. Jesus is our Savior.  
In St. Matthew’s Gospel the angel told Joseph that the child’s name will be Jesus, which means the LORD saves, because “he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus saves us from our sins. Indeed, Jesus only came to save sinners. For Jesus to be your Savior, you must be a sinner. This doesn’t mean that you must go out and break God’s commandments in order for Christ to be your Savior. You do that enough already without putting any special effort into it. But this does mean that you must become aware of your sins. Jesus saves sinners. If you are not aware of your sins and that you need to be rescued from them, you will not understand what it means that Jesus is your Savior. And you will not be able to welcome him as your Savior. Yet, if you recognize that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, the news that Jesus saves sinners is truly splendid. Jesus comes to save idolater, adulterers, liars, murderers, thieves, gossips, drunks, people who skip church, he comes to save them all. Jesus comes to save you.  
“Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.” the Prophet Isaiah writes. Who is us? Who is speaking these words? Having been given these words by the Holy Spirit, we do. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Jesus was born for us. This means that the following words apply to us as well.  
“The government shall be upon his shoulder.” This is not an earthy government, which taxes and makes trade deals, fights wars and desperately clings to power. No, this is a heavenly government, one where Jesus rules with all authority. This government is not limited to national boundaries, rather, you are a citizen of this government when Christ rules your heart through faith in his word. 
“His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor.” Jesus is our counselor. This means that he counsels us. We listen to his words and he guides us through this life as a shepherd guides his sheep with a rod and staff. He draws us to repentance, forgives our sins, and guides us in the path of righteousness. 
 “Mighty God.” Jesus is our God. This means we trust in him with all our heart, soul, and mind. We rely on him for all things. We trust that God will give us all good things for the sake of Jesus, who died for us. The greatest of these things is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  
“Everlasting Father.” Jesus teaches us that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father. Scripture makes clear that the Father and the Son are two distinct persons in the holy Trinity and Jesus is God the Son. He is not God the Father. The Father was not born of the Virgin Mary nor did he die on the cross for your sins. Yet, Jesus is to us an everlasting Father. He provides for us eternally, as a father provides for his children and rules his household with honor.  
“Prince of Peace.” Peace. That is the word proclaimed by the angels at Jesus’ birth. That is the word Jesus declared to his disciples when he rose from the dead. Peace. Not as the world gives. This is peace the world cannot understand, peace between God and man. This is peace that can only be won through the shedding of Jesus’ blood, which removes every stain of sin from our souls. The Prince of Peace does not win peace for us by conquering our enemies with bombs and missiles. Our real enemies cannot be conquered by such warfare. Christ Jesus conquers our enemies, sin, death, and hell by removing your sin from you, by giving you eternal life, and by making you a citizen of heaven.  
The message of Christmas is for you. God caused it to be written for your benefit. In fact, all of Scripture applies to you and your life. Jesus was born for you. He is your Savior. And all of his words are written for your learning, so that you may grow in faith and confidence in your salvation. We celebrate tonight not just a story that happened long ago and far away. Tonight, we celebrate the Gospel truth that unto you is born a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Amen.  
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Advent 4: Confessing Christ Saves

12/23/2018

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John 1:19-28 
December 23, 2018 
 
John confessed, he did not deny, but confessed. Jesus said, “everyone who confesses me before men, I also will confess before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my father who is in heaven.” And Romans 10:10 states, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” It is clear from these passages and the confession of John the Baptist that Christians confess. We call ourselves confessional Lutherans. That means we confess to believe that the teachings of the Book of Concord are true because they agree with the holy Scriptures. When I was ordained, I confessed that I believed the teachings of the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds as well that the teachings of the Lutheran Confessions are in full agreement with Scripture and I promised to teach them. We confess the Nicene Creed every Divine Service and the Apostles Creed when we wake up each day.  
To confess literally means “to say the same thing” or “to agree on something.” When we confess in Church, we do not each confess our own personal views about God and Jesus and ourselves. We confess what God says about himself and about us. And we all confess the same thing, because there is only one God, who reveals all that we need to know about him in holy Scripture.  
Yet, confessing is very controversial. Because to confess means that you believe something to be true. Which means that things that disagree with that confession are not true. To say that something someone believes in is not true is rude. So, confessing is rude. And through a bizzare twist of logic, many Christians think that confessing is unchristian. Sadly, although the teachings of Jesus are widely available for anyone to read or be taught, most would rather sit at the knee of their teacher Pontius Pilate, who mockingly asked, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) 
“Deeds, not creeds!” has even become a popular slogan among American Christians. This is tragic, because it means that our filthy rotten “good” works are more valuable than faith! For creed simply means what you believe. Well, we confess that our deeds are too wicked and sinful ever to earn for us eternal life, but we believe in one whose deeds have saved us apart from our works, namely Jesus Christ, who died for our sins. No, it is creeds that save, not deeds. Faith in Christ saves, not our tainted works. Also, the statement, “Deeds, not creeds!” is itself a creed. A bad creed, which confesses that our works are more important than faith in Christ.  
Yet, it is quite clear from Scripture that creeds are good. Confessing is good. But it is important that what you confess is true. John the Baptist in our Gospel lesson confessed two things. One about himself and the other about Christ Jesus. Both confessions were rooted in holy Scripture.  
John confessed of himself that he was not the Christ! All Israel had been waiting for the promised Christ, whom the prophets had foretold many times. Rather, John confesses that he is the voice, as Scripture declares, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘make straight the way of the Lord.” (Isaiah 40:3) And we learned last week how John made straight the way of the Lord by preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Only those who confess their sins to God and repent are ready to receive the Lord with his forgiveness.  
John confessed of himself what the word of God said about him. And we are called to do the same thing. When we confess our sins, such as at the beginning of the Divine Service, we are simply agreeing with what God’s word says about us. Scripture tells us that we are poor, miserable sinners. Scripture tells us that we are born in sin and that the desires of our hearts are evil. Scripture tells us what is right: Honor authority; do not commit sexual immorality; do not steal; do not slander, etc. And when we examine ourselves, we see that we have failed and deserve hell. Scripture tells us that our deeds are less than insufficient to rescue us from hell.  
Such a confession is humiliating. Most do not want to make such a confession about themselves. They’d rather confess themselves to be something they are not. Yet, if John would have confessed himself to be the Christ, would that have made him the Christ? Of course not. It would have made him a blasphemer. Likewise, if we deny our sins, we are liars. Yet, Scripture gives hope to us who confess our sins. The humble will be exalted. And if we confess our sins, God will faithfully forgive our sins.  
John confessed of Christ, “Among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” The next day John said of him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.” (John 1:29-30) Now, how can Jesus come after John, yet have such a high rank that John is not worthy to unstrap his sandles, a common task of a slave? How is it that Jesus is both after John (having been born six months later and started his ministry after him), yet he is before him? Because Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecy from Deuteronomy 18, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me among you, from your brothers, it is him you shall listen.” This is the prophet, whom John denied to be. This prophet is the Christ.  
Jesus is before John, because he is God. He is the Word, who was with God and was God in the beginning, through whom all things that were made were made. He appeared to Moses in the burning bush. He spoke to Abraham and promised him a son. He led the people of Israel by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He was on Mount Sinai with thunder and earthquake and fiery cloud, terrifying the people of Israel. But now he comes after John, born after him, preaching after him.  
Why? Why does Christ, who is before John, come after him? And why does he come as our brother, born of a woman? Listen again to our Old Testament lesson, “Just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see his great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth...”  
The people of Israel could not bear God speaking to them, because God is holy and they were sinful. So, God had to hide himself from them. He could only be in their presence through a sacrificial system. Yet, now God speaks to them as their brother. He does not terrify them with fire and earthquake, but speaks plain words. They can see him, touch him, and listen to him. God became man, so that we human beings could receive him through faith, believing in the words he speaks to us.  
John confessed Christ to be both God and man. And we make this same confession today. We must make this confession. First of all, because it is true and plainly taught in holy Scripture. Secondly, because it is necessary for our salvation. If Jesus is not truly God and man, then we cannot be saved.  
We should know this well, if Jesus were not a human being, he could not obey God’s holy Law in our place nor die for our sins and if Jesus were not truly God, his sacrificial death on the cross would not be a sufficient price to pay for our sins. He would not have had power over sin, death, and the devil. He would not have had the power to rise from the dead or give us power over the grave. For this reason, we must always confess him to be “God of God, light of light, very God by very God, begotten not made, being of one Substance with the Father by whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary and was made man.” And the confirmation students should cherish in their hearts and confess with their mouths what they have learned this past month, “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary is my Lord.”  
It matters what we confess about Christ. Every single religion that denies that Jesus is both God and man teaches you to rely on your works to be saved. This is not a coincidence. Unless God becomes man, we cannot be saved. There is no grace for us. Yet, because God has become man, God does not come to us in fire and smoke, but with words of peace and mercy. Just listen to what John says of him, who is ranked so high, he is unworthy to untie his sandles, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  
Think of that. By all rights, we should be less than slaves before him. We are not worthy to serve him or even wash his feet. Yet, what does this Jesus do? He bears all our sins. He behaves toward us as less than a slave. He serves us as a sacrificial lamb, who gives his life for sins he did not commit.  
This is the true meaning of Christmas. That baby in the manger surrounded by a stoic donkey and adorable sheep is the appointed sacrifice for our sins. He is the lamb provided by God, our scapegoat, the only one, who can take God’s wrath away. He, our God and brother, has come to die for us.  
Are you celebrating Christmas with some, who do not confess Christ? Or are you embarrassed to confess Jesus to be true God and man, born to save you, as you celebrate his birth? How strange that this is the situation of many as our entire nation celebrates the birth of Christ while most ignore its meaning. Well, I would like to encourage you to do as John the Baptist did. Confess Christ. Who cares if it’s awkward? Don’t be worried about offending anyone. Confess Jesus to be true God and man, born to save sinners. As you gather as a family to celebrate Christmas, gather everyone around to hear the Christmas story from the Gospel of St. Matthew or St. Luke. Make it a family tradition. Confess the creed. Go to church and hear the Gospel, which was first delivered by the angels.  
Whoever confesses Jesus before men, Jesus will confess before his Father in heaven. And with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Yet, even more, you can only receive Jesus and his salvation through faith. And faith comes through hearing the words of Christ. So, be that voice, which confesses Christ. Or bring your loved ones to hear that voice, not just this Christmas, but throughout the year. Let us always confess the Godman Jesus Christ, and rest assured that he is confessing you before your Father in heaven. Amen.  
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Advent 3: John, The Quintessential Preacher

12/17/2018

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Picture
Matthew 11:2-10 
Pastor James Preus 
Trinity Lutheran Church 
December 16, 2018 
 
John the Baptist is the quintessential preacher. What does that mean? It means that John is the best. He is what a preacher essentially should be. If preachers were 2x4s, John would be used to measure all the other boards. Jesus himself says as much, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? … A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’” John perfectly did what every prophet was called to do before him and what all pastors are called to do after him. John prepares the way of the Lord. The Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry in Israel by preaching repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Preachers today prepare the way of Christ into the hearts of Christians, also by preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins.  
Immediately after our Gospel lesson Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet, the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” Pastors are not a superclass of Christians. They are not superior to others within the kingdom of God. Yet, the office to which preachers are called and the task entrusted to them is greater than any other on earth. It is through the ministry of the word that God calls sinners to repentance and gives them saving faith in Christ. St. Paul goes so far as to say to St. Timothy, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1 Timothy 4:16) 
So, preachers may very well be the least in the kingdom of heaven, yet their preaching is the most important work in the kingdom of heaven. Through it, God saves sinners. Through their preaching, God prepares the way for Jesus Christ himself. This is why our Lord said to his apostles, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16) If you receive the preaching of God’s messengers, then you receive Christ Jesus himself. If you reject their preaching, you are not simply rejecting a man, but you are rejecting Christ himself.  
John sets the course for all ministers to prepare the way of the Lord by preaching Law and Gospel. That is what he is doing when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The preaching of the Law is a call for repentance. The law tells you how God demands us to live, such as in the Ten Commandments. The Law is good. It expresses God’s will to us. God’s will is for us to love him with all our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Try to find fault with that! Yet, the Law shows us our sin. It demonstrates to us that we do not do as the law requires. This is why Romans 3:20 states, “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”  
All this is expressed in that little word, “repent.” To repent means to turn course. That God’s messenger commands you to turn course tells you that the course you are on is wrong. You are a sinner. You must stop doing what you are doing, because it leads to death and hell. And you must turn to do something else. What must you turn to? Well, before you can begin to be on the right course, you must receive the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins is the Gospel.  
Well, actually, Gospel means good news, like when the angel said to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is Christ the Lord.” So, strictly speaking, the Gospel is the good news that God became a human being in the womb of the Virgin Mary, was born in Bethlehem to the adoration of shepherds, grew up as a righteous man before God and man, fulfilled the law in our place even under severe temptation from the devil, suffered, died, and was buried for our sins, and rose again on the third day. That is the Gospel. Yet, you can believe the details of the Gospel without truly believing in the Gospel. You can have knowledge of all Jesus’ marvelous birth, life, death, and resurrection, yet not believe in the forgiveness of sins. Yet, the goal of the Gospel is for you to believe in the forgiveness of sins, just as the goal of the law is for you to despair of your own righteousness, repent, and turn to Christ for forgiveness.  
The Gospel fulfills God’s demand for love. Jesus completed all works of love in our place as a human being. God himself could not find any fault in Jesus whether in thought, word, or deed. The Gospel fulfills God’s demand for justice against all law-breakers. Sinless Jesus took on the sins of the whole world, became the only law-breaker in the eyes of the law, and was punished in our stead, like a lamb to be slaughtered, as John himself said of Christ Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) That is the Gospel. Not only the various details of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, but what they mean: forgiveness for you and me.  
Both the Law and the Gospel show us God’s perfect righteousness. The Gospel differs from the Law in that it is God’s work, not ours. We receive the Gospel (and with it the forgiveness of sins and salvation), through faith. The Law presents God’s righteousness as something to work for in order to obtain it. Scripture says, “for it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” (Romans 2:13) The Gospel presents God’s righteousness as a gift to be received by faith apart from our works.  
Both the Law and the Gospel show the righteousness of God, but the Law fails to save us, because it depends on our works. Rather, the Law makes us aware that we need to receive God’s righteous and salvation as a gift through faith. This is the relationship between the law and the Gospel.  
The Law and the Gospel must never be mixed. This is done when it is said or believed that your good works in some way merit your salvation. But your good works can never merit your salvation. Salvation is a gift to be received through faith in Christ. The Law and the Gospel must never be mixed, but they must also never be separated. The Law without the Gospel leads sinners to despair or self-righteousness. Both lead to hell. But the Gospel without the Law becomes meaningless. It is like giving dessert to someone already full. It is nauseating and despised.  
If the Law does not convince you of your sin and bring you to repentance, then you cannot accept the Gospel. The Gospel is indeed preached to the whole world, but it is only the poor in spirit who receive it. This is why it is always necessary for preachers to preach the law. However, the law is not popular. People don’t like to hear of their sins. Especially if you get specific. The idea that one ought to actually stop doing what he is doing that is wrong and say sorry to God seems archaic and humiliating. Well, yes. It is archaic. And it is humiliating. God’s word is from everlasting to everlasting. And the humble will be exalted.  
However, sadly, many preachers are too afraid to preach against sin and call sinners to repentance. People might get mad or leave the church. But to forsake preaching the Law does no service to the preaching of the Gospel or to the sinner trapped in sin. God spoke to Ezekiel in chapter 33, “So you, son of man, I have made a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, that person shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.” (7-9) and further God says, “Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” (11) 
John was not a reed shaking in the wind, and so pastors are also called to resist the pressures of the present culture, and to speak only the word of God. Notice that at the beginning of our text, John is in prison. Why is he in prison? Because he preached against the unlawful divorce of King Herod’s wife from her husband Philip and the unlawful adulterous marriage of Herod to his brother’s wife. John was not afraid to preach the law, even to King Herod. He called him to repentance. Yet, instead of humbling himself and receiving the forgiveness of sins, Herod threw John in prison.  
And so, preachers today should not let fear keep them from preaching against the sins gripping society. If homosexuality, divorce for any cause, adultery, gossip, or drunkenness becomes acceptable, the preacher is still called to be a servant of Christ and steward of God’s mysteries. He must preach the whole counsel of God, calling sinners to repentance. Repentance must be preached, so that sinners can receive the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins as a gift.  
The Gospel must predominate. This means, the entire message of the preacher must work toward the goal of Jesus dwelling firmly in the heart of the hearer. My goal in my preaching is for you to have certainty that God accepts you for Christ’s sake. This is the wonderful message of “Comfort, comfort, my people, … speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” The message of every minister of Christ is comfort. Christ comes to dwell in your heart through faith. He forgives your sins and gives you peace with God. With a heart repentant of sin and trusting in Jesus, you are ready to welcome Christ when he comes to you. And this Gospel is a sure comfort, because the word of God stands forever. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen. 
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    Rev. James Preus

    Rev. Preus is the pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Ottumwa, IA. These are audio and text of the sermons he preaches at Trinity according to the Historical Lectionary. 

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