Christmas Eve - December 24, 2011

First of all let me just express that Faith and I feel so blessed to be here, among all of you, this Christmas Eve.  We’ve been looking forward to this day all year long, looking forward to celebrating Christmas with this new family, looking forward to hearing the familiar Story in a new home. 

One of the things Faith and I decided to do to celebrate our first Christmas away from our childhood homes was to watch Christmas movies together.  We’ve watched “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “White Christmas,” “Miracle on 34^th St” and more.  Watching the movies in the living room with our Christmas tree has been wonderful.  It’s been a really nice way to spend time together and get in the mood of Christmas.  [Especially since we are noticeably lacking snow.]

                                                                                              

Aside from being fun time spent together, watching these movies has given me an opportunity to think about how our culture has viewed Christmas over the past sixty years. According to these classics, what is it that is important about Christmas?

I’ll start with one that the kids have probably seen.  “You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.  You really are a heel.  You’re as cuddly as a cactus and as charming as an eel.  Mr. Grinch.”  This movie shows the terrible, horrible, awful Mr. Grinch, whose heart is two sizes too small, who just doesn’t have any Christmas spirit at all.  Instead of giving, he steals.  Instead of celebrating, he stews.  But on Christmas morning he discovers that the Whos down in Whoville are singing and celebrating anyway.  For you see, Christmas is not about presents and trees and stockings; it is about spirit.  This is the message of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

“It’s a Wonderful Life” is a wonderful movie.  George Bailey, a talented young man, longs to get out of Bedford Falls, see the world and become a grand success.  Instead, he remains stuck in town because he feels responsibility for the people there.  He gives of himself, his time and his money.  He gives until it hurts.  And it does hurt.  He becomes very depressed by it all, until he is shown how much good that he has done.  And the people whom he has helped, turn around and give to him in his time of need.  Helping others, this is the Christmas Spirit in  “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Then there’s the classic, “A Christmas Carol.”  The rotten old man, Ebenezer Scrooge, is visited by three ghosts, of Christmas Past, Present and Future.  The first shows him his former happiness, when his boss was generous and when he had love in his heart.  The second ghost shows him the present, as his own employee, Bob Cratchitt who, though he is poor, shows generosity to others and celebrates a meaningful Christmas even without money.  The final ghost shows him the future, when Scrooge will die alone and unloved.  The message is clear, the Christmas Spirit is about generosity and friendship.

All of these movies teach us about the Christmas Spirit.  Christmas is about giving, not receiving.  Christmas is about generosity with our fellow human beings, whether or not they be friends and family or complete strangers.  Christmas isn’t about material things; it’s about love, love that we share with one another.

These aren’t bad messages.  Being generous is wonderful.  Giving to others, even those we don’t know is great.  And of course Christmas is not about mere objects and stuff; it is about love. 

And yet.......  And yet this is to miss the heart of Christmas.  At its heart, Christmas is not about giving; it is about receiving.  It is not about showing generosity; it is about being the object of it.  It is not about having the right spirit; it is about an actual living, breathing, warm little body.

Christmas is about one thing.  For nine months that one thing had grown in Mary’s womb, developing fingerprints, toes and eyelashes, kicking, hiccupping, making her uncomfortable, keeping her awake at night, filling her with joy at the thought of the precious human being who was so intimately connected to her.

Christmas is about flesh and blood and bones.  It is about tiny lungs drawing breath for the first time.  Christmas is about God saying, “I must be near to you.  I will not be some far off abstraction.  I will not live beyond the clouds.  I must be near to you.  I must be with you.”  And so he has come in a way that we can understand, in a way that every human being has come.  He has come to us in childbirth: overwhelming, painful, joyful....... and real.  This is how Jesus comes.  This is Christmas.  Amen.

4th Sunday of Advent - December 18, 2011

For the past four months, our confirmation kids have been taking sermon notes based on two questions: What Law did you hear in the sermon?  and What gospel did you hear?  I have the kids listen for these two things because the Lutheran understanding is that God speaks those two words to us.  Sometimes they seem to have a pretty easy time hearing the two words and sometimes it's a little bit trickier.  Today, the two words sit side by side in a way that they can be clearly seen.  

            Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.” And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

This is a very clear instance of David applying the Law to himself.  He is aware that the Lord has blessed him.  He knew that as a boy he was just a shepherd with little prospect of every being anything more.  And he knew that God had plucked him out of obscurity, made him into a warrior and leader of men.  And he knew that he was now the king of his people only by the grace of God.  He is very aware of these things.  And so he says to Nathan, "I'm living in a beautiful palace, but God's ark, the symbol of his presence, is living in a dumpy old tent."  And he doesn't speak it, but the implication is clearly there, "I should do something about that.  God has blessed me richly and I should pay him back."  As I said, this is David applying the Law to himself, asking, "What should I do?"  

God responds to David through the prophet Nathan and he does so in no uncertain terms.  God lays it out for him.  

            "Would you build me a house to dwell in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”’

In other words, "Who told you I wanted a fancy house?  If I would have wanted one of those I would have asked one of those other leaders, you're not the only one I've asked to shepherd my people you know, I would have asked one of them to build me a house.  But I didn't.  And you sure seem to be getting just a little big for your britches."

At this point, I'd expect God to give David a real dressing down.  I'd expect God to apply the Law to David to squash that pride.  But God does nothing of the sort.  Instead God uses his other word, the word of promise, the gospel.  And he uses a play on words to deliver this promise.  David wanted to build him a house, an architectural structure, stone and wood.  Well, God is going to build a house for David made of living people.  He is going to give him a lineage, a line of descendants.  And these descendants are going to rule the country forever.  At least, that is what is understood.  And as it was understood, this is a wonderful promise indeed.  To know that one's descendants will continue to rule, that there will be stability, and that one's own name will be secured for posterity, these are the dreams of every king.

But here's the thing, God's promise to David was underestimated.  The promise was actually better than that.  The good news was much better than that.  And we begin to discover this one thousand years later when a messenger from God, an angel named Gabriel, visits a young woman named Mary.  A woman who is a descendant of... David.  And Gabriel tells her the most amazing thing.  Not the virgin birth part, though that's pretty amazing.  No, he tells her that the son she will bear...

            "...will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to 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.”

This was the promise all along.  This was God's promise to David.  Not just that his descendants would be king over a country called Israel, but that his descendant would be God's own son.  God's promise to David was this, "I am going to join your family.  Your son will be my son."  Now the promise that David understood was a very good promise, but this is much better.  

I tell you this morning that we too have become a part of that family.  Through faith in Jesus Christ we have become the relatives of King David.  But better yet, we have become children of God, our sins forgiven and our futures secured.  These are the promises that we received in baptism, though, like David, we did not deserve it.  And these are good promises, amazing promises.  But I can't help but wonder if God's promise to us is even better than we expect.  Even greater and more gracious than our minds can imagine.  One day we will know, but for now we can look forward with great hope and expectation, because our God gives good promises.  Really good promises.

3rd Sunday of Advent - December 11, 2011

I confess to you that I like to make things overcomplicated.  Instead of doing things the simple, straightforward way, I have been known to spend hours or even days thinking about a project and then deciding on the complicated way. 

As I’ve probably mentioned, years ago I was a framing carpenter.  When I was on the job, I had to do things the simple and quick way, otherwise I would get an earful from my foreman.  But when I got home and went to the garage?  That was the time that I had all to myself.  That was the time I could needlessly complicate matters. 

I remember building a little end table for my sister out of scrap 1x6.  I wanted to figure out a way for it to be sturdy and elegant at the same time, while hiding the screws.  I didn’t have much in the way of tools: a circular saw and a handheld jigsaw along with a drill.  It was wonderful.  It was wonderful to puzzle over the many possibilities.

It’s the same way with sermons.  I puzzle over these things more than I should, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I make them needlessly complicated.  I recognize this tendency in myself and I try to go back through these sermons and simplify and make things more clear.  But I still get the sense that they are more complicated than they need to be.

A perfect example of this occurred this week.  The reading from Isaiah is about as straightforward as you are going to find as long as you understand one thing.  The one thing to understand is this.  It is Jesus who is talking.  It is Jesus.  And we know it is Jesus because he has said so.  Let me just read you the proof.  [Read Luke 4:14-21]  Jesus fulfills this scripture because those were his words back in Isaiah that the prophet wrote down.  They weren’t Isaiah’s words; they were Jesus’ words.

Jesus declares that he has been anointed by God to bring good news, to comfort those in sorrow, to free those who are imprisoned, to proclaim God’s favor to us.  That’s what the prophecy said he would do.  When he came to live amongst us that is what he did.  And that is what he does now.

Are you in sorrow?  I know that some of you are.  Then Jesus has come for you. 

Do you find yourself imprisoned somehow, unable to get free?  I bet that some of you are.  Then Jesus has come for you. 

Do you need some good news instead of bad?  Does the world and its cares weigh heavily on your shoulders?  Then Jesus has come for you.

As always I am tempted to make this more complicated than it is, but it really is this simple.  Jesus has come for you.  Jesus has come for you.

3rd Sunday of Advent - December 11, 2011

I confess to you that I like to make things overcomplicated.  Instead of doing things the simple, straightforward way, I have been known to spend hours or even days thinking about a project and then deciding on the complicated way. 

As I’ve probably mentioned, years ago I was a framing carpenter.  When I was on the job, I had to do things the simple and quick way, otherwise I would get an earful from my foreman.  But when I got home and went to the garage?  That was the time that I had all to myself.  That was the time I could needlessly complicate matters. 

I remember building a little end table for my sister out of scrap 1x6.  I wanted to figure out a way for it to be sturdy and elegant at the same time, while hiding the screws.  I didn’t have much in the way of tools: a circular saw and a handheld jigsaw along with a drill.  It was wonderful.  It was wonderful to puzzle over the many possibilities.

It’s the same way with sermons.  I puzzle over these things more than I should, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I make them needlessly complicated.  I recognize this tendency in myself and I try to go back through these sermons and simplify and make things more clear.  But I still get the sense that they are more complicated than they need to be.

A perfect example of this occurred this week.  The reading from Isaiah is about as straightforward as you are going to find as long as you understand one thing.  The one thing to understand is this.  It is Jesus who is talking.  It is Jesus.  And we know it is Jesus because he has said so.  Let me just read you the proof.  [Read Luke 4:14-21]  Jesus fulfills this scripture because those were his words back in Isaiah that the prophet wrote down.  They weren’t Isaiah’s words; they were Jesus’ words.

Jesus declares that he has been anointed by God to bring good news, to comfort those in sorrow, to free those who are imprisoned, to proclaim God’s favor to us.  That’s what the prophecy said he would do.  When he came to live amongst us that is what he did.  And that is what he does now.

Are you in sorrow?  I know that some of you are.  Then Jesus has come for you. 

Do you find yourself imprisoned somehow, unable to get free?  I bet that some of you are.  Then Jesus has come for you. 

Do you need some good news instead of bad?  Does the world and its cares weigh heavily on your shoulders?  Then Jesus has come for you.

As always I am tempted to make this more complicated than it is, but it really is this simple.  Jesus has come for you.  Jesus has come for you.

2nd Sunday of Advent - December 4, 2011

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon on the psalm that Moses wrote, Psalm 90.  It was all about our struggle with death and our failed attempts to deal with it.  It was dark and gloomy and there was no good news in it at all.  At the end I said that all we could do was look ahead to Advent and cry out, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Today is the day when we get a resounding answer from Isaiah.  He writes that messengers are being sent from God to give his people good news.  This is what the messengers are told to say, “Comfort my people.  Speak tenderly to them.  Tell them that the warfare is over.  Tell them that their sin has been pardoned.  Tell them that I am taking away their sin, and in exchange I am giving them a double blessing.”  

That sounds pretty positive, but what does it mean exactly?

This is what it means.  God is telling them about his son Jesus who is coming and he is telling them specifically about what Jesus is coming to do.  

First, Jesus is coming to bring comfort to his people.  The gospel is always about comfort.  The gospel is never about fear or obligation.  The gospel is sent to comfort the troubled hearts of God’s people.  “Do not worry.  You are MY people.  I have chosen you.  And I know the plans that I have for you.  And they are plans for good.”

And then God tells his messengers to speak tenderly.  The word of gospel is a word of love directly from God’s lips.  “I love you,” he says.  To say, “I love you” right, one can’t be angry or impatient or boastful.  No, God’s love is gentle and kind and so this good news must be delivered that way.  It must be delivered tenderly.

Next he says this, “Your warfare is over.”  What is this warfare?  It is our struggle with sin, death and the Devil.  In Christ, God is declaring that this warfare is over and done with.  In my own battle with alcoholism, I kept losing battles.  Year after year I lost battles.  I came up with strategies to drink less or only at certain times.  I poured bottle after bottle down the drain only to buy more.  The warfare was never ending.  It was never ending until the day when God declared that it was over.  He declared that the warfare was ended.  And so it is with our battle with sin, death and the Devil.  God simply declares it over and done with.  

Next God says, “your iniquity is pardoned.”  Your sin is forgiven.  This is how God ends the warfare.  He forgives sin.  He doesn’t strengthen us so that we can win the battle with sin.  He doesn’t give us another chance so that we can maybe do better the second or third time around.  No, he ends the battle altogether by forgiving our sin.  He forgives our sin for the sake of Jesus.

Next come these words, “she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”  These words refer not to a double punishment, as is often understood, but to a double blessing.  We receive from the Lord’s hand a double blessing IN EXCHANGE for all her sins.  Jesus took our sins on himself when he was crucified.  He bestows this blessing on us at Holy Communion, “This is my body, given for you.  This is my blood shed for you.”  

But there is a deeper significance to this double blessing; it is not simply a blessing.  In the Old Testament, the first born son was the heir.  And the heir received a double portion of his father’s estate.  Therefore, what God is declaring to us here is that not only is he taking our sins and giving us a blessing.  He is declaring that we are his heirs.  And when we receive Holy Communion we are partaking in our inheritance.

So then, this is the message that your God gives you today:  Be comforted, you are my people.  I love you.  Your warfare is over for I have forgiven your sins.  My son Jesus has taken them and in exchange for these sins.  I am giving you a very special blessing.  I am declaring that you are my heirs.  You will inherit all that is mine: life, forgiveness, joy, peace, understanding, love...... beginning now...... and in fullness in the age to come.  This is the gospel of our Lord.  Amen.

Evening Advent Service - November 27, 2011

Advent is about waiting.  Any child knows this perfectly well.  There are many adults who seem to think Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving, or in October for that matter.  But a child knows that this is not at all true.  They know because though the tree might be in the living room, with ornaments and lights, and though there might be cookies in the oven, and though there might be carols on the radio and all kinds of other things to throw them off the scent, there is a hard and fast rule that presents are not opened until Christmas arrives.  And so children wait and they wait,  and they wait.  Advent is about waiting.

Now there are different kinds of waiting.  The kind of waiting that I just described, children waiting to finally open presents, that is one kind of waiting.  It is hopeful anticipation.  The children don’t know what is under that tree, but they are pretty certain that whatever it is, it’s going to be good.

Waiting for our new baby Abigail to arrive has been like this for me.  I don’t know what she’s going to be like.  I don’t know if she’ll have blond hair or red hair or no hair.  I don’t know if she’ll be quiet and sweet or full of spit and vinegar.  I just don’t know.  But I do know that she’s going to be wonderful.  And so I wait in hopeful anticipation.

But there is a different kind of waiting.  And this other kind of waiting is not so nice.  It is called dread.  It is waiting with fear.  We might wait this way before having surgery.  Or this might be the kind of waiting we do before trying something new or dangerous.  This isn't the kind of waiting that we want to do, of course.   But it is part of our lives.  We all know what it means to wait with fear. 

As I said, Advent is about waiting.  But which kind?  Is it about waiting with fear?  Or is it about waiting with hopeful anticipation?  This is what I know.  God is holy and he demands that we be holy as well.  We are to do good without ceasing and flee from all evil.  We are to love God with all our heart, and all our soul, and with all our strength and with all our mind.  And we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.  Given this command, it makes sense for us to wait with fear, because we have sinned against God.  We have not done these things.  According to the law of justice, we should be condemned.  And so it makes sense to wait with fear for the judge to come and pass his sentence upon us.

But I am guessing that most of us gathered here tonight have not gathered in a spirit of fear.  Though we have all so clearly fallen short of God's glory, yet we gather tonight in hopeful anticipation, waiting for something good to happen.  Why is this?  It is because we know something.  We know that God promised us a savior.  We know that God sent his son to be with us.  We know that in baptism and Holy Communion he forgives our sins and gives us the promise of everlasting life.  It is because of these promises that we can wait with hopeful anticipation.  We wait these four weeks of Advent to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  And we wait our whole lives long for the judgment to come.  And we don’t know all of the details yet.  We don’t know all of the details, but we know that it’s going to be good.  

1st Sunday of Advent - November 27, 2011

This past summer, we celebrated the centennial of both Brunsville and Craig, one hundred years of history.  This celebration brought to the forefront something that we all know.  We have all kinds of stories that stretch back in time.  Some of us have families that were here from the start, back when farms were a little smaller, families a little bigger, winters a little colder.  And some of us have stories that have only come to these rolling hills in more recent times.  But the point is, we’ve got them.  We’ve got ancestors, those who have come before us. And when things are working as they should, these stories and these people help us to make sense of our lives right now.  They give us hope that adversity can be overcome, and they provide instruction for us so that we don’t have to learn the hard way, though some of us stubborn ones will insist on extra lessons. 

This idea of history is at the heart of our Old Testament lesson today.  Isaiah is a prophet who knows the history of his people.  He knows the stories; he knows the ancestors. And Isaiah is attempting to understand the situation of the people in his own time by looking at what happened to their ancestors.  He’s doing this because his people are in a tough spot. 

For one thing, Isaiah’s people were surrounded by enemies.  They had once been strong and independent, but now they had grown weak.  Some of them had already been dragged away into slavery.  More would follow.  Isaiah talks about Jerusalem and the temple being destroyed and becoming ruins.  So this is an exterior problem, a challenge that is coming from outside of themselves.  But that’s not the worst of it......

Because they also have interior problems.  They are neck-deep in sin.  Isaiah talks about how they have become unclean like dirty rags.  But what is worse, he talks about how no one is calling on God, no one is seeking him.  No one is repenting.  That’s a big problem.

So Isaiah is looking back at history to help his people.  And if we look at the chapter before our lesson, he starts mentioning names and events:  Abraham and Moses, going through the parted waters of the Red Sea, taking possession of the Promised Land.  Isaiah is looking back at the stories of his people.  He’s looking at those stories and he’s telling them to his people. 

You all know the story.  God chose a man named Abraham.  To Abraham he gave three promises: land, numerous descendants and the promise that through him and his descendants all the nations of the world would be blessed.  It took awhile for the descendants to begin arriving, but Isaac was born.  And then Jacob.  And then Jacob had twelve sons.  One of these sons, Joseph, became a very important man in Egypt and his father and brothers and all their children moved to Egypt where life became more prosperous for them while Joseph lived.  But in the generations following his death, prosperity turned into slavery.  These descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob became slaves in the land of Egypt. 

The parallel that Isaiah see is this: for the people of his time, just like those people of old, prosperity has turned into slavery.  What was good has turned into bad.  And like the people of old, Isaiah’s people don’t seem to have the power to do anything about it.  So what is to be done?  Well what does the story say?

The Book of Exodus tells us that the slaves cried out for help and God heard them.  God sent them a deliverer whose name was Moses.  And God used Moses to lead his people through the Red Sea and out of slavery; he led them through the wilderness and brought them to the land that he had promised to Abraham.  So the lesson of history that Isaiah draws from this is that God is the one who has the power to save.  The slaves in Egypt cried out and God heard them and God saved them.

So what does Isaiah do?  He cries out the powerful words that began our service today, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence...... to make your name known to your adversaries, so that nations might tremble at your presence!  When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.”

Here is what Isaiah is saying, “God, I know history.  I know what you have done.  I know that you have shown yourself to be powerful, mighty to save.  I know that you brought my ancestors out of Egypt. I know that you drowned the Egyptian chariots in the Red Sea.  I know that you brought my people into the Promised Land, overcoming every obstacle.  I know that you have been powerful on our behalf. 

Lord, rip the sky open and come down for us now.  Tear the clouds apart, come and help us now.  Send us a savior.”  Isaiah cries out on behalf of his people, “Send us a savior.”

Now all of what I have spoken of is history.  And today we know how God responded to Isaiah’s cry; and this response has become a part of history as well; it has become a story that we know very well.  God became human in the person of Jesus.  He tore open the heavens and came down.  He tore open the sky and came down and lived among us and died for us.  This is God’s response to Isaiah’s cry.  It is now a part of our history.

But this cannot remain history.  This saving act of God cannot stay in the past as a story of God’s goodness to other people, people of long ago.  It must not remain a dusty page in some old book.  Isaiah cried out to the God of history on behalf of his people, “Save us too!  Come to us in power like you came to our fathers and grandfathers......”  It wasn’t enough for Isaiah to know history.  He needed a savior.

Likewise for us.  It is good that we know the history of our people.  Our ancestors were slaves in the land of Egypt and they cried, “God save us!”  And he delivered them.  Our ancestor is Isaiah who cried out, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down......”  And God became man and walked on earth.  It is good that we know this history, but it is not enough.  Because what we need is a savior. 

“Jesus, come to us like you came to the slaves in Egypt.  Answer us like you answered Isaiah.  Save us.  For in so many ways we are sorely afflicted.  We have fallen into slavery and sin of every sort and we cannot free ourselves.  Jesus, tear open the heavens and come down.”  This is the cry of Advent.  And the good news of Advent is this: Jesus is coming.  Jesus is coming.