Grace: It Ain't Cheap, But It Is Free

Text:  Matthew 20:1-16

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

God’s way is not our way; our way is not God’s way.  We see this most clearly when we look at one of the defining characteristics of the Kingdom of God – that is grace.  That is to say, contrary to what we assume, grace is underserved, unearned, and even unexpected.  God’s grace, which is His underserved favor, is not even domesticated; it is not something that we can barter; it does not act the way that we think it should.  

We hear all about this in our Gospel reading from this morning, as Jesus shares a parable – that is a story.  Looking more closely at this parable, we hear about the workers in the vineyard.  Some worked twelve hours and some worked one, but at the end of the day they all were graciously paid the same.  In other words, everyone was generously and fairly compensated the exact same rate and no one was shortchanged by the landowner.  Everyone was treated the same, regardless of the amount of work done.  There were no comparisons made, no ranking or classification of workers, and no compensation scales.[1]  This resulted in “no room for self-promotion, no occasion for competition, no basis on which one . . . [could] say to another, . . . ‘I am more important than you are.’”[2]  The work varied, but the same gracious compensation was given.

Contrary to what we might think, Jesus was not attempting to teach socialistic economics when He told this story, but rather, He was showing what it means to be saved by grace alone through faith alone, as a gift of God.

My friends, this is the way it is with the Kingdom of God.  It runs the way of gift.  And since it runs the way of gift, the Lord’s grace cannot be confined, controlled, and dispensed on the basis of our agendas, our ethnic heritages, our church backgrounds, our spirituals resumes, the length of time that we have been in the church, our roles in the church, our accomplishments, our community status, and so forth.  Put frankly, the Lord’s grace is not dispensed in the way a can of soda is dispensed, that is, when loose change is inserted and buttons pressed on a vending machine so that a soda is bestowed of our choosing.  We cannot purchase grace with our change and cannot press the Lord’s buttons.  The Lord is not so easily manipulated by us naming and cataloging our good works in order to present them in exchange for His grace. 

This irritates us though.  Yes, the Kingdom of God and this gift of grace can annoy us.  The reason why: we become easily angered and resort to believing that this grace is unfair when we start comparing ourselves to other people.  It works like this: subconsciously we compare our accomplishments and our spiritual resumes to other people, and then we believe that we should have ‘more’ favor from God than our neighbor who we believe is ‘less’ deserving than us.  Then, when we least expect it, we find ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with this person – whom we deem to be less than us – at the alter receiving the ‘same’ gift of grace, no more and no less.  It really is scandalous, is it not?  You and I can do all sorts of work for the Kingdom of God and then at the end of the day we get the same body and the same blood at the same altar as our neighbor.  If only this injustice could be remedied.  Maybe if we got two sips of wine and two wafers of bread, maybe this could make up for this injustice – so with think! 

Our apparent injustice actually reveals something much deeper about us though.  It reveals that when we are angered by this injustice of grace, that we are working for pay and not really for the Lord.  It reveals that we do not understand grace, but only our self-centeredness.  You see, the grumbling workers in our story from the Gospel reading, did not work for the master, but were working for the pay – for themselves.  Their interest was not in doing what needed to be done because the vineyard needed it, or because the Lord placed them in the vineyard to work, but rather, they were in the vineyard putting in their work in order to exchange that work for a payout! 

Dear friends, let it be clear that grace cannot be bought off.  The Kingdom of God does not work this way.   Before we go down this dark road, may it be clear to us that this story – this parable – is not about what mankind thinks is ‘fair’ or ‘just.’  It is not about how we can earn grace.  It is not about us attempting to control, manage, or earn grace.  It is not about how we can self-promote ourselves in the Kingdom of God in order to warrant special handouts.  It frankly is not about us at all; it really has nothing to do with our doings.  Rather, this parable is about the gracious landowner and how the landowner’s generosity consequently infuriates.  It is a parable about the Lord’s rich, abounding, mighty, and powerful disposition towards those who do not deserve it.  It is about grace that does not depend on works and what people think they deserve.  It is about grace that is lavished out upon the unworthy—for Christ’s sake.  In short, the Lord rewards those who don’t deserve it, for that is what grace is.  He loves those who hate and abuse Him.  He gives gifts to losers and sinners.  He is generous, merciful, and good, despite the thoughts, words, and deeds of mankind.  

The workers who worked all day, grumbled because they saw themselves as entitled to more and within a separate class of individuals.  And what set them apart from the other workers?  They saw themselves as ‘entitled.’  We too, my friends, are prone to this very sin in regard to the Kingdom of Heaven, when we begin to think that the Lord somehow owes us a special status and owes us grace for what we have done and what we have not done.  We too sin when we think that we can somehow manage, manipulate, control, and domesticate the Lord’s grace, as if His grace must respond to who we are and what we do. 

Repent dear friends.  Repent; both you and me – repent. 

The thing about this parable is that it will always remain scandalous and unfair as long as we see ourselves as the entitled ones, for that is the default position of the old Adam, our sinful flesh.  But with that stated, what exactly do we think that we are entitled to?  Fleshing this out a bit more, what is ours to take?  What have we earned?  If God were to give us a ten dollar bill for every word of praise or thanksgiving or encouragement we spoke in the past week, but were to take one dollar away every time we complained or griped or grumbled or at least  wanted to, would we have any money left?  I doubt it.

Dear friends, bluntly stated, no matter how polished our good works, no matter how clean our resumes, and no matter how many hours of devotion we have put in—even if it is a full-day of work—we must never forget that all we can earn by our own reason and strength is complete and total damnation.  That is our paycheck.  That is our wage.  The only thing that we can offer the Lord is our sin; sin that does not yield life but wages death, hell, and despair.

Do not despair though, for like the jobless people in the market place of today’s story, you have been called and placed into God’s vineyard as a worker, some of you early in the morning at your baptism as an infant and others of you later in the day at an older age.  There will be others added to the vineyard with you in the evening – that is to say on their death bed.  Regardless of the time though, you ‘all’ have been graciously called.  You have been placed into the Kingdom of Heaven, because you are loved and the Lord is gracious. 

Most certainly you are welcomed into the kingdom, but this does not come without a cost.  What is the cost though?  The cost is the expensive and shed blood of Jesus Christ—blood shed for you.  Yes indeed, in this vineyard, this kingdom, Christ’s church, you have learned and will continue to learn that the defining characteristic of the Lord is unearned and undeserved grace – all for you. 

As a disciple within this gracious Kingdom of Heaven, you will work in serving your neighbor and you will walk in the vocations that the Lord has placed you within, as the Holy Spirit leads and sanctifies you day by day.  Yes, these good works and vocations are given from the Lord’s hand for you to simply walk in.  Being called into the vineyard you will continually receive undeserved and unearned grace and mercy that has been gifted to you for Christ’s sake.  It is all pure gift!

Furthermore, dear Baptized Saints, in the days to come when you and I find ourselves caught up in the mindset of entitlement or find ourselves believing that we can earn grace, be assured that the Lord and His grace will not bend to your or my demands, but rather will exceed the desires of our selfish hearts.[3]  Case and point: as you stand shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters at this altar, you all will all stand with different lengths and different lists of sins, yet you and your brothers and sisters will all receive the same body and blood of Jesus Christ for the complete forgiveness of all your sins.  Rejoice and be glad. 

Indeed, in the days to come when you slip into comparing yourself with others, your baptism remains steadfast and true reminding you that you and your brothers and sisters were all baptized into the same name, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” from the same baptismal font, into the same death and the same resurrection.  Rejoice and be glad. 

Given the good news that we have heard thus far, it can be faithfully and confidently asserted that in Christ’s church no one can tame, limit, or legislate the Lord and His grace.  The Lion of Judah will not be tamed.  The flowing grace from Mt Calvary cannot be dammed up. The cup overflows for you today and for you tomorrow and the days to come.  As the workers received a full-days’ wage for only an hour of work, it is the same for you.  In fact it is better for you, for you “are no longer mere workers being overpaid.  By grace we are now all members of the family, co-owners of the kingdom, [and] the bride of the Son.  We remain with Him.”[4]

Blessed Saints, “May God in His mercy keep this ever new to and for us that our hearts would not grow cold or take His grace for granted.  May He keep us ever mindful of the cost of His love in the death of the Son and the fulfillment of His love in the resurrection as He provides once again in His risen body and blood.”[5]

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] Jeffrey A. Gibbs, Matthew 11:2-20:34: Concordia Commentary  (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2010), 990.

[2] Ibid, 991.

[3] David H. Petersen, Thy Kingdom Come: Lent and Easter Sermons (Fort Wayne, IN: Emmanuel Press, 2012), 4.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

Be Afraid, But Fear Not

Text:  Matthew 17:1-9

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Today, we should be afraid.  No, I take that back, we should be ‘very’ afraid.  At first glance, our Gospel reading leaves no other option for us, other than fear. 

Now, this may come as a shock to all of us since we have been so greatly comforted by the message of Christmas and Epiphany over the last several weeks.  In other words, I suspect that you have been comforted hearing that Jesus became one of us when He put on flesh and was born into a stinky stable.  Comfort was also delivered to you when you heard that Jesus came not only for the Jewish people, but that He came for all the people of the world.  And who can forget the comforting message of last week?  Christ Jesus became one of us when He took on all that has gone wrong with us – our sins – by plunging into the Jordan River and being baptized with sinners in a sinner’s baptism!   

Today though, you and I are jarred out of our comfort by hearing about Jesus being transfigured on the top of a high mountain.  But should this Gospel reading really drive us to fear?  Should we be afraid of Jesus transfigured like the sun?  Should we be afraid of the divine voice of God the Father speaking from heaven?  Yes, we should; we should be very afraid. 

Dear friends, Jesus’ face that showed like the sun, His clothes that became dazzling white, the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and a bright cloud upon that high mountain, certainly scared the disciples to death.  It made their bones rattle; their stomachs tightened with fear; in their terror, they threw themselves upon the ground, realizing that they stood face to face with the holiness and glory of God. 

Terror and fear are the way that it is with sinful people in the presence of God – or at least it should be.  Consider this, every time a person in the Bible encounters an angel – which is a mighty warrior of God – they are driven to fear and must be told, “Do not be afraid.”  It is this way not only with Angels, but it is this way with the Lord as well.  Take for example our Gospel reading from today or the prophet Isaiah, who wanted to die when he was in the presence of God. 

With all of this stated though, we live in a time where the fear of God is minimized or eliminated altogether.  In other words, we seem to be afraid of almost everything else in this world, except God.  We are fearful of our neighbors, we are fearful of our bosses, we are fearful of ISIS, and we are fearful of mass shooters.  And there is more!  We are fearful of: spiders, car accidents, the flu, clowns, hail, nasty weeds, and cancer.  Our actions, our conversations, and our faces reveal this fear – even though we tell ourselves that we are brave, tough, and calm North Dakotans.  It is different though when it comes to the Lord, for when we talk about the Lord our faces hold steady while we resist this notion of being afraid of Him.  We flat out say that we are not afraid of the Lord God!  Why is this?  Maybe it is this way because we just can’t handle being afraid of one more thing; therefore, we strip God of His majesty in our minds and bring Him down to our level where He is tame and manageable.  Or, maybe we really are afraid of God, but pretend to be courageous. Regardless of the exact motives, there is a temptation and a desire among Christians, especially in America, to strip the holy awe from the Lord God.  This happens when Biblical miracles are rationalized away, when sin is rarely mentioned, when God’s wrath is cast aside, and when Christ’s divinity is downplayed. The end result is obviously that mankind attempts to stand bravely over the Lord without fear and in control.

These tactics to reduce the fear of God certainly do come from church goers; however, pastors are equally guilty.  Pastors are tempted to relax reverent church services, to chill out in their preaching by softening their language, and to ultimately be careful not to cause discomfort to church goers.  To do otherwise, would ruin the potential of growing the church and it would most definitely goes against what the culture thinks the church should be about: comfort, ease, and tolerance – a no trigger zone.

Simply stated, we Christians and pastors do not want to be uncomfortable in the church and we especially do not want to have any degree of fear.  We would rather the Lord be on our leash, so that we can lead Him around and keep Him underneath our command.  This is safer.  Bluntly stated, we would rather have a harmless tame lap dog than a mighty God that causes us discomfort and fear.   

Our Gospel reading from today shows the exact opposite of our North American twenty-first-century desire.   The Gospel reading shows the fear and trembling of the disciples in the face of glory.  Keep in mind that we have heard how the baby Jesus was born unto us; we have heard how He came for the Jews and the Gentles; we have heard how He came into the waters of dirty sinners.  Yes, we have heard all of this and it has delivered us comfort, but now today we must hear that Jesus was transfigured.  We must consider that Jesus is not in the same league as us.  In other words, we must realize that even though Jesus identifies with us, that He is not completely like us, for He is God in the flesh and He cannot be tamed or diminished.   

Dear friends, repent.  It is time to confess and come clean that we have been afraid of almost everything, except the Lord.  Repent, for we bow in fear to everything else – things that cannot destroy our soul – but then treat the Creator of our souls as a harmless lap dog that is connected to our leash.  Repent; do not be afraid of that which cannot destroy your soul, but rather, save your fear for God, who holds your entire life – body and soul – in His hands. 

Peter, James, and John at the transfiguration of Jesus were afraid and had every right to be afraid.  We too, when we consider our Gospel reading from today, should be afraid – we should be very afraid, for we are not God but mortal man. 

This fear though is actually not a bad thing.  In our society we have been taught that fear is bad and we have been taught to be fearful of fear; however, this fear in which the disciples displayed in our Gospel reading from Matthew is actually good.  In other words, we ‘should’ fear the Lord because we have no ability to manipulate Him. We ‘should’ fear Him for we cannot control Him.  We ‘should’ fear Him for His own sake.  To fear Him is to acknowledge, understand, and respect that He is the Lord and we ourselves are not, that He holds our entire life – body and soul – in His hands.   

Not only is this fear of the Lord healthy, good, and true, it is also the beginning of wisdom.  In other words, this fear is not the end of us, but the beginning.  The fear of the Lord hushes us and it stops us in our tracks with silence.  It reduces us to poor miserable sinners – beggars.  It positions us in attentiveness, so that we can hear another word, and not simply a word, but the Word made flesh – Jesus Christ.  That is how it should be: when God speaks, mankind is silent.  You see, the mighty, majestic, tame-less, transfigured Lord Jesus Christ came to the petrified-in-fear disciples, laid hold of them, and said, “Arise and do not be afraid.” 

“If you were to have only four words of Jesus, I think these would be the ones to have.  ‘Arise!’ is the resurrection word.  Get up, you who have been struck dead by your fear of death, plowed into the ground by the weight of sin in the heavy atmosphere of God’s glory. “Arise! And fear not!’”[1]  These words are not just another command, but words that grant us faith and peace and yes, comfort. 

Dear Baptized Saints, the fear of the Lord must always come before the comfort in the Lord.  Also, comfort in the Lord does not come by us diminishing the Lord’s glory, as so many attempt to do, but rather, comfort comes by the way of gift, by the way of Christ’s word spoken into the ears and souls of those silenced by His presence.  Comfort is given, not acquired through manipulation.     

“This is [all a part of] God’s plan in bringing about the fear of him in you, in striking you to the ground by conscience, by law, by affliction.”[2]  Otherwise stated, the fear of the Lord must be given to you and me so that we are ground into the fine dust of repentance.  In repentance and silence, and with our mouths silenced in the fear of the Lord, we are then granted ears to hear.  “Out of sinners, [Jesus] calls a saint; and out of death, life.”[3]  Therefore, dear friends, you who sit in silence, you who have confessed your sins before the Lord almighty, you who fear the Lord, hear with the disciples today, “Arise, do not fear.”  Yes, arise, do not fear.  Jesus is not deadly to sinners like me and you, for the transfigured-powerful-glorious-Christ came down the high mountain and with all splendor, supremacy, might, and determination went to Golgotha, where He suffered your sin, died your death, and rose for you. 

Arise, do not fear, you are forgiven.  Neither death nor fear nor anything in heaven or earth can hold you anymore.  Jesus came to the disciples and held them with a promise; Jesus comes and lays hold of you with that very same promise. 

Arise; do not fear; walk through life at the hand of the all-powerful Lord, Brother, and Friend – Jesus Christ who holds you now, tomorrow, and into eternity. 

Arise; do not be afraid, for the Lord is with you and for you.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] John Sias, “Sermon for the Weds. of the Transfiguration of our Lord,“ https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BxWrj472ikAtWmxEM3NjU2Q4Tmc&usp=drive_web&ddrp=1&hl=en&tid=0BxWrj472ikAtNmY0M2M5MjgtODdkYi00MGJlLTg2NTAtODE0ZDNhYWM1NWRk (Accessed, January 16, 2016).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

Rolling Around In The Mud With Pigs

Text:  Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen. 

Jesus becomes one of us. 

There was no holding Him back. 

He became one of us when He put on flesh and was born into a stinky stable that Christmas long ago.  He also became one of us when He took on all that has gone wrong with us – our sins.  Yes, this is the way that it is with the Son of God; He descended into the sin filled world by His birth in a manger; He plunged further still by going to the Jordan River and being baptized by John the Baptist in a sinner’s baptism.

Take pause for a moment and consider what was just said.  Consider our Gospel reading from this morning, as well. 

Out in the wilderness next to the Jordan River, we hear about dirty water, water that had washed over some 500,000 sinners in a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.[1]  John the Baptist had blasted away at sinners; confessions of sin, acknowledgements of failure, and concessions of corruption abounded; baptismal water dripped from the heads of adulterers, thieves, liars, prostitutes, swindlers, blasphemers, murderers, legalists, rebels, and ragamuffins.  It was an unusual place by the Jordan River with John the Baptist; people laid bear with the ugliness of life exposed and lines of individuals went into the water for baptisms. 

Indeed, things out by the Jordan River were surely no sanitized walk in the park; it was messy and unclean.  It was no rated “G” event.  The stench of sin filled the air and the waters of the Jordan River were polluted by transgressors, and this is exactly what Christ walked into and embraced.  It is exactly what Christ took hold of as if it were His own. 

 

John the Baptist did not seem to like this though.  He even argued with Jesus, telling Him to stay back.  For John the Baptist, Jesus needed to stay detached; He needed to keep His distance.  He had no business being baptized with dirty sinners.  We may think the same as well, that Jesus needs to stay clean and pure and holy, for He is the Holy Son of God.  We may not like the way that this all sounds.  Yet, contrary to John and to our thoughts, Jesus moved into the dirty water and demanded to be baptized. 

Dear friends, this is the way that it had to be.  Like a cleanly bathed child going to roll around in the mud with pigs, Jesus descended into the Jordan and was baptized in the midst of sinners.  The water of filthy sinners was applied upon Christ, showing that He was the one who would bear the sins of the world—that the mud of sinners was to be splashed upon Him. 

This is the kind of Savior that we have.  There is no distance or separation between us sinners and Him.  This is God showing you and me that we are in this together; not alone and not abandoned.  This baptism of Jesus is the fulfillment of righteousness; it is how righteousness and the gospel work for us.[2]   

As it was in the Jordan River, it is no different for us today.  Just as He came into the midst of sinners at the Jordan River, the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the twenty-first-century to where sinners gather.  He comes to where sins, failures, troubles, guilt, and shame are confessed.  He comes to churches like Zion Lutheran Church—a hospital for sinners.  He comes to sinners in the Word and the Sacraments, in order that we might believe, know, and understand that there is no distance or separation between us sinners and Him.  Truly, He comes to the place of sinners, because the Gospel is for sinners only.  He comes to gift forgiveness, life, and salvation.    

What does all of this mean?  It means that Jesus belongs to us.  It means that we cannot cleanse ourselves and move closer to Him, but rather, Jesus comes into the muck of our sin for us.  It means that “Jesus placed Himself in the Jordan River, so that in Baptism He might place you inside Himself.  [Indeed, it means that you blessed Saints] are baptized as a member of His body, intimately connected to Jesus as a finger is to a hand. . . .  His life flows into you as freely as the water flows onto you in Baptism. You are [connected with God in your baptisms,] filled with Him who fills all things, and fills you in particular with forgiveness, everlasting life, salvation, peace, all the riches of heaven.”[3]

Think about it!  At the baptism of our Lord, the Father’s happiness and pleasure and favor were upon Jesus.  And since we are in Christ through Baptism—joined to Him—the Father delights in us as well. 

Make no mistake about it, what is ours—that is our sin—becomes Jesus’; what is Jesus’—that is His righteousness—becomes ours.  Simply stated, because God delights in Jesus and we are in Jesus by baptism, well then, God delights in us too.  If our hearts would totally take all of this in, Martin Luther once said that our hearts would burst for joy into a hundred thousand pieces.

This world is given over to sin, death, and the devil; it is perishing.  More specifically and a bit closer to home, we live in a world were slander attacks our character, gossip assassinates our friendships, unjust condemnation presses upon our consciences, and demonic accusations pierce our souls.  We live in a world where people falsely believe that they have successfully risen out of the sewage of sin by their own strength and clever endeavors, whereas other people celebrate the filth of sin as if it were glory and normal.  We live in a world where there is truly no safe place to lay one’s head; always on guard, sleeping with one eye open, and constantly looking over the shoulder.  We also carry around this body of death, the old sinful nature, like a ball and chain to the end of our lives.  Considering this, even though it is true that you are in this world, you mustn’t forget that you are not of it.

Dear Baptized Saints, your citizenship and life are hidden in Christ; your life is not your own.  You live and rest where Christ is, where God has His delight, for you are connected with Christ in baptism.   Hear this: God has spoken His divine word upon you!  “With the water His name was put on you at your Baptism.  [Therefore,] you are not just a doubtful, ambiguous, meaningless, hopeless bunch of atoms bouncing around.  [You are not some accident of natural selection.]  [Furthermore, the world, sin, death, and the devil, do not possess you, for] you have the word of God put on you.  At your Baptism, surely, and at Jesus’ baptism too.  For there [in baptism] Jesus is in [unity] with [you] and [you] with Him.  Because he is the beloved Son, we with Him are beloved sons and daughters, delighted in and beloved of God.  So you can’t just drag along dreary, fearful, guilt-ridden, nobody-loves-me, me-against-the-rest [of the world], . . . me-separate, all alone.”[4]   No, none of this is possible.  You are not alone; the world, sin, death, the devil, and your sinful nature do not have the final say, for you are connected and joined to Son of God in your baptisms.    

Through the baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus sanctified (that is made holy) and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood, a lavish washing away of sin.  Yes, in your baptism you are forgiven—completely, nothing held back.  In your baptism, you have been made a member of the Son, and an heir to all of the treasurers of heaven.  You have been chosen and claimed and marked as the Lord’s own; no one can pluck you from His hand. 

Hear this today: there is no separation with the Father, for we are baptized into Christ.  Sin cannot disturb your soul any longer, for you are baptized into Christ!  Death cannot end your gladness, for you are baptized into Christ! Satan’s might has come unraveled, for you are baptized into Christ![5] 

Dear Christians, firmly hold this gift.  Give God thanks forever!  Baptism gives the power to uplift; it revives your soul; it makes you stand and makes you whole; it is your glorious robe of righteousness.[6]

You are God’s own child, blessed Saints, for you are baptized into Christ.  Nothing can change that reality and nothing can separate you from your Lord that unites with you.

In the name of Jesus who was baptized in the Jordan –for you: Amen.

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[1] It has been estimated that some 200,000 to 500,000 people were baptized by John the Baptist, for Jewish Historian Josephus mentions that the Baptist caused a great sensation.

[2] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 43. 

[3] Chad Bird, “Gather at the River of Life and Death,” Flying Scroll, https://birdchadlouis.wordpress.com/category/baptism/ (Accessed January 9, 2016).

[4] Ibid.

[5] Erdmann Neumeister, Lutheran Service Book: God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It tr. Robert E. Voelker (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 594.

[6] Paul Gerhardt, Lutheran Service Book: All Christians Who Have Been Baptized (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 596.

When People Threaten Our Thrones...

Text:  Matthew 2:13-18

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

This morning we as a church remember The Holy Innocents - the young boys whom Herod and his soldiers murdered thousands of years ago in their attempt to kill the Christ Child. 

These young little boys are called the Holy Innocents, because they were the first martyrs to lose their lives for Mary’s baby - Jesus. 

Today, we can all grieve the loss of these approximate 20 children from the city of Bethlehem.  Our hearts can wrench in pain over the grief, fear, and horror that was thrust upon the mothers, fathers, and families by King Herod’s bloody sword.  However, grief and remorse are not enough for us this day.  No, to simply feel bad and to simply shake our heads and say, “ah, shucks,” does not do justice to commemorate these little ones.  What am I saying?  We actually honor and remember these Holy Innocents best when we allow their deaths to speak to us today; we must allow their story, their death, and the sin that led to their butchery to impact and work on us. 

With that said, taking pause and meditating upon our Gospel reading from today, we hear what sin is like.  We hear “what sin is like most obviously in the damage when one sins.  This is horribly clear with Herod.  Herod loved Herod.  Herod wanted himself to be big.  He got power for himself no matter by what means and no matter at what cost to others.  When he suspected his wife or sons of endangering his power, he simply had them executed.”[1]  When he heard about a Messiah being born in Bethlehem, he ordered Bethlehem’s children to be slaughtered.  And so it goes with sinners like Herod, me, and you: we put ‘ourselves’ as number one while stomping everything and everyone under our foot.  Yes, “When we put ourselves first, then everybody else comes second.  Herod had the power to subordinate people to himself.  Most of us sinners do not have [as] much power; therefore, the damage we do [to] others in putting them second is not [as] spectacular as Herod’s efforts in Bethlehem.  But the basic principle of sin remains the same. . . . [In other words,] when people get in our way, we do not have the use of Herod’s sword, but we know how to get rid of them.”[2]

And so it goes.  Sin, my friends, corrupts us by setting our eyes upon ourselves and not our neighbor, and especially not upon our Lord.  This inward looking – which is known as selfishness, greed, egoism, narcissism, and so forth – ultimately flicks God off the throne and has us supposedly take over the role of God where we are in apparent control and where we can get what we want, when we want it, and whenever we want it.  Furthermore, as we sit upon the throne as number one, everything is corrupted: reality, ethics, and especially God’s handiwork; sin corrupts the way that we value life.  In other words, if we refuse to acknowledge that we are creatures of God – that we are number two - and if we kick God off of his throne and place ourselves as number one, “then, naturally, [we] also fail to recognize [our] neighbor as a creature of God [as well].  [As a result, we]then do not value and deal with [our] neighbor according to his or her connection with God but only according to the connection with [us].  If [our] neighbor is not understood in connection with God, then he or she has value to [us] only as he or she is useful to [us] and [we can then] feel free to push him or her around to suit [our own] convenience.”[3]  

Objectively: when Herod killed those children, he was damaging these little babes, their parents, himself, and the Lord.  However, subjectively none of this mattered if Herod is on the throne.  Otherwise stated, since these children threatened Herod’s throne, their value did not matter.  With Herod, value is given to that which enhances Herod’s throne and the label of ‘evil’ is ascribed to that which threatens Herod’s throne.  Herod’s criteria for determining the value of life was himself – his choice.  That which enhanced Herod was good; that which threatened Herod was evil.  The Messiah was among the children in Bethlehem; the Messiah was a threat; therefore, damn those children and damn the Messiah… no, let’s butcher them. 

Like Herod, we creatures unfortunately have not done too well with the criteria in which we have used to determine life’s value.  We have used ethnicity as a basis for value and ended up with places like Auschwitz and Cambodia and Croatia and Rwanda—hundreds of thousands of people brutally slaughtered that did not serve a certain ethnicity’s agenda. We have used skin color as a basis for value and ended up with slave trading and civil war and discrimination and lynching—thousands upon thousands of lives lost that didn’t serve the aspirations of a certain color of skin. Now we use whether you are born or not as a basis for value and end up with abortion being the most common surgical procedure done is this country. Millions upon millions of lives lost in brutal ways – over 50 million lives that would have forced mothers and father to become a number two – lives that were an inconvenience.  More and more we use health as a basis for value and end up with assisted suicide and euthanasia and “killing as a means of caring” and the elderly being led to believe they have the “duty to die.” Millions of people with disabilities and people in nursing homes are increasingly at risk of hastened deaths, because they have become an unnecessary burden upon the hopes and dreams of their family and friends.[4]

Like Herod, all of these examples have a common thread.  They use mankind’s criteria of ‘self’ as the basis of life. That which is not of the same ethnicity, race, status, age, ability, and intellect… that which will not prop up my throne and my kingdom is deemed as worthless and an inconvenience and must be put to death.  For example: in pregnancies, it is a child in the womb if it is wanted and if it will enhance the family; however, it is considered a blob of tissue if it is unwanted and will ruin the future dreams of a mother and father.  In other words, children in the womb are never referred to as blobs of tissue when the desired outcome is birth; whereas, they are routinely referred to as blobs of tissue or fetuses when their desired outcome is termination.    

Frankly my friends, Herod’s ethics of seeing good in that which enhanced him and evil in that which threatened him, actually runs rampant in our modern day and age.  Our culture and our mindset push almighty God around like He is a weak puppet.  We kick Him out of the driver seat on to the curb, grab the wheel ourselves, and drive the way that we so desire that enhances our throne, and think we can get away with it.  However, when we try to overthrow God, it is not God who grieves, but it is ultimately us. 

When Herod killed those children, he believed that he was preserving himself and his throne; however, he was digging a grave to hell.  By killing those children to serve his throne he believed that he was doing that which was good; however, he was in reality destroying God’s creation, estranging himself from the Lord, and aligning himself with death, damnation, and the jaws of hell. 

Dear friends, we are not master and commanders of the universe.  We are not the creator.  When we harm our neighbor, especially the least of these in the womb, we are damaging a piece of God’s workmanship, God’s creature.  “God meant that person for something, and if [we] injure him or her, [we are] working against God.”[5]  We even fail our neighbor when we fail to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.  We share in the blame when we fail to deal with issues because we think they are only political problems or social ills.

It seems that the epidemic of Herod’s ideology is widespread in all of us.  Indeed, not only is King Herod the unholy patron saint of Planned Parenthood, but his ideology is held by each and every one of us to a certain degree, for we all want to be number one while subordinating others to our will and our desires. 

God have mercy on you and on me.  Christ have mercy on all of us. 

Dear Baptized Saints, you, who have ears, hear.  “God could have come with terrible power and slain Herod and all like him.  But if He [slaughtered] everyone prepared to put themselves first, there would be none of us left.  [Therefore,] He came the way of love, which knows that we are not made better by force. . . . Force deals only with the outside of a person.  [However,] when God came [He] came to save us from sin.  [He came to save us from ourselves.]  He used not force but love – love that brought Him to a stinking stable and a cruel cross.”[6]

Dear Baptized Saints, “Jesus did not put Himself first.  He was there for us.  [He was there for you.]  His whole life was such action of love.  It fulfilled the will of God.  He lived the life that is expected of us, and He died the death that was coming to us for our sin.”[7]

Baptized Saints, sin is always out to destroy.  Sin, as seen in Herod’s life, tempts you to put yourself as number one, but in the end it destroys your loved one, estranges you from God, and kills you.  The Lord though, is not content to give up on you and let you sit on His throne.  No, God carried His plan on even though Herod attempted to slaughter Jesus.  He carries His plan on for you, even though sin continually wreaks havoc on you – when you attempt to be number one.  You see, He daily comes to you and me and returns us to our baptism that by contrition and repentance, sin may be drowned and die.  He returns you and me to our baptisms, so that we may be put to death.  But through all of this we know that God has joined Himself to you and me and to those slain babies in Bethlehem in order to grant us everlasting life.  He was determined to have you as His possession, which means that He will not forsake you and will not forsake The Holy Innocents.  But rather, we, with these babes, will be lifted up in the end unto glory, free from sin, to the Lord’s presence, where there will be no more pain, fear, or grief, but rest, joy, and praise.  This is most certainly true, for Christ did not put Himself first, but put you, me, and The Holy Innocents first by living, bleeding, dying, and rising for us. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis, (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 325.

[2] Ibid, 326.

[3] Ibid, 326.

[4] James Lamb, “Hands that Knit; Arms that Hold” Lutherans for Life, http://www.lutheransforlife.org/sermon/hands-that-knit-arms-that-hold/ (accessed January 1, 2016). 

[5] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel, 326-327.

[6] Ibid, 327.

[7] Ibid. 

The Fall And Rise Of Many

Text:  Luke 2:33-40

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

The atmosphere of Christmas continues for most people well past Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  All the Christmas left overs, all the Christmas treats, and all the Christmas gifts will continue to bless you into this next week.  The decorations will stay up in your houses for a while longer.  Christmas songs will continue to flood your memory and you will hum them around the house.  Indeed, the aura and feeling of Christmas continues on and on and on, that is until we meditate on today’s sad thoughts in our Gospel reading from Luke. 

Today, with reluctance, our happy and warm Christmas thoughts are brought before our Gospel reading, where they collide with sad thoughts.  Otherwise stated, our celebration of the manger and our humming of, “Silent Night,” bump rather harshly and rudely into Simeon’s confession that the baby-Jesus is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel.  Yes, fresh from the manger we meet Simeon’s confession that this Christ-child will be a sign that will be opposed. 

I know how you might be feeling.  Two days ago we heard, “Merry Christmas; unto us a child is born!”  Now, we hear that this child will wreak havoc and stir the pot. 

Considering this, why has the historical church meditated on Simeon’s confession and why has it chosen to do this the Sunday after Christmas, when we haven’t even packed up the decorations and put away the tinsel yet?  Otherwise stated, “Why does the Church ask us to meditate on these sad thoughts while still within the sight of the manger?  Surely, [the historical church] wishes us to celebrate a joyous and happy Christmas.  Yet [the church has assigned] this [Gospel reading to the Sunday immediately after Christmas] to remind us that Christmas is not sheer poetry.”[1]  Dear friends, to rephrase this, “When all the ‘Silent Nights’  and “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehems’ are sung, when we’ve all oohed and aahed over the diapered deity swaddled in the manger, there remains the reality that God did not send His Son into the world to make us feel all warm and fuzzy inside.” [2]   But rather, Jesus came down from heaven to redeem a real broken world, not some marshmallow world with ‘snow and mistletoes and presents under the tree,’ but a real world – with all of its ugliness and hurt and pain.  Yes, Jesus came to redeem this world and to do that would require hurt and pain and blood and conflict and all sorts of raw suffering.  This redemption would truly rattle the earth, confuse earthly wisdom, divide mankind, cause some to fall, and some to rise.  

This is exactly what Simeon points out to Mary, Joseph, you, and me in Luke’s Gospel account.  More specifically, as Simeon took the young baby into his arms, we get the sense that he became very serious.  He beheld an appalling sight.  As he held the little baby Jesus in his arms, he confesses that the child would be the rise and fall of many.  Indeed, Jesus and His life would bring about much opposition in Israel.  Instead of being accepted and loved by all as the Savior, Jesus would be met with rejection and suffering.  This was a dark picture and a terrible announcement to which Mary – His mother – had to listen.  For us today, this is not a very pleasant announcement as well; it is not a very Christmasy message for us to hear only 2-3 days after Christmas.[3]  Furthermore, it challenges the modern day assumptions that Jesus is only about love and roses and peace and happiness and tolerance. 

In the midst of our pleasant Christmas feelings, we most definitely hear the jarring message from Simeon that our Lord’s birth marks the beginning of a hard, bitter, life for Jesus.  For Mary, she would hear the jarring message from Simeon too; hearing that a sword would pierce her very own heart.  “She who once placed her two hands on her extended belly, wondering what kind of boy she would have, would eventually stand drenched in tears as she looked up at that boy, grown into a man, whose two hands were extended upon the cross-beams, drenched in blood, to save her and the messy world He so love[d].  Each nail that pierced His hands, each thorn that bit into His brow, the spear that punctured His side – they all were a part of the sword of sorrow that was thrust deep into [Mary’s] heart.”[4]

Because this Child in Simeon’s arms brings a rising and a falling to many, and is a sign that is opposed, and pierces the heart of Mary, we must ask today: does Jesus causes you and me to rise or to fall?  There is no room to wiggle out of this question, for Jesus Christ – the gift of Christmas – caused many to rise and to fall, as stated by Simeon and taught by Scripture.     This Christ is like a rock that caused people to stumble or to be raised; He will either cause you and me to stumble over Him or He will lift you and me up high on a solid foundation. 

For Mary and Simeon, Jesus was a sign for their falling ‘and’ for their rising.   Falling: Simeon knew that His salvation was not in himself; rising: he knew that salvation lie resting in his arms.  “Mary learned that she had a son, yet she did not have Him – He really had her.”[5]  On the other hand, for many others in Israel, Jesus was a sign only for falling. For example: in their response to Jesus, the religious big shots of the day showed what they were. Their hearts were revealed. They did not want to be reduced to point that they were nothing but receivers and they refused Jesus’ invitation to pick them up.  Their pride was insulted by the idea of falling to the status of poor miserable sinners.  Furthermore, Jesus did not meet their specifications.  From their perspective, they had no use for what they perceived as an unremarkable, weak, Beggar-Savior. They wanted someone useful. Someone who would advance: their social hope, their political agenda, and their religious endeavors…

Dear friends, what say you?  Is this Child who was born that Christmas Eve your falling or your rising?    

To you who spiritually pull yourself up by your own bootstraps; to you who say, “Help me up, but don’t do everything for me, for I am not a beggar, but I am capable of doing some of it by myself”; to you who consider yourself a bit less sinful than your neighbor; to you who depend upon your own works and seek your own righteousness: Christ is a stumbling block to you.  Like it or not, you cannot do Christianity and life apart from the Lord, thus making the Lord less than almighty.  If you cling to what you imagine must be true, if you cling to your demands and what God must produce for you, you are undone – you trip upon the rock - and remain under judgment.  Indeed, you cannot stand in the presence of Christ, for Christ calls for faith, not works.  He seeks sick-sinners, not the self-righteous.  He comes to give to beggars, not receive from the self-important empty elite. 

Repent one and all.  Christ is your falling.  Fall upon the rock of Christ.

Let there be no mistake this morning, the person and message of the one in in Simeon’s arms – Jesus -causes our falling.  However, do not be discouraged, you who have fallen with me, Jesus is also our rising. 

Yes, when we are shown what we truly are, when we despair of self, and when we are made to be a poor beggar, this Christ-child is a rock for our rising. 

You see, the Lord pours faith into poor miserable sinners like you and me.  He places the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation into your open hands.  He draws you up out of the black waters of sin and hopelessness, and so saves you from eternal death.  This happens wherever the sign of the Cross is held on high.  The shepherds, Simeon, the Magi, the prophetess Anna, Mary, Joseph, many loyal souls of ages past, martyrs, and you blessed Baptized Saints this day, have been raised upon the rock of Christ.  This day you stand upon the rock of Christ, despairing of your own efforts, and trusting in the Lord’s gifts.  These gifts - faith, forgiveness, life, salvation - come to us by way of a sign: an infant in Simeon’s arms, the man dying on the cross, water splashed upon you in the name of God, and the bread and wine for you. 


Simply stated, we fall in repentance. We are raised by forgiveness.  We must all fall, so that we all can be raised. 

Simeon received the baby-Savior that brought him his death and his salvation – his falling and rising. You too have fallen and been raised: you have been plunged into His death in baptism; you have been raised anew in the new-ness of life in baptism. 

As it goes with Simeon, it goes with us.  The thoughts of all hearts and minds are drawn out into the open when Jesus shows up. Jesus collides with you, which is the death to: your self-esteem, your religious endeavors, and your spiritual resume.  It is death to your specifying who God must be to you.  Take comfort though, the one that draws near to you is also the cause of your rising.

Baptized Saints, you are with Christ, together with Him in the falling and rising.  As it goes with Him so it goes with you.

All this we rejoice in as we join with Simeon’s rejoicing. 

We rejoice in this Savior in whom we have our falling and rising; our strength and preservation; our departure and our salvation.   All of Him is with us; together in our falling and rising, rising never to fall again.

Merry Christmas to you in the name of the one causes your falling and rising, Christ Jesus the Lord: Amen.

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[1] Fred H. Lindemann: The Sermon and The Propers: Volume 1, (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1958), 99.

[2] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons (Copyright © Chad Bird, 2014), 122.

[3] Fred H. Lindemann: The Sermon and The Propers: Volume 1, 98.

[4] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons, 122.

[5] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 33-34.