“The White Clothes of Jesus” (Mark 9:2-9)

Today on this last Sunday in the Epiphany season the church celebrates a great, pivotal event in the life and ministry of Jesus, namely, the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Jesus goes up on a high mountain, taking along with him his inner circle of disciples, Peter, James, and John. There he is transfigured before them, that is, his appearance changes, and his clothes become dazzling white. Two great figures from the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah, appear with Jesus and talk with him. The disciples don’t know what to make of all of this. Then a cloud comes, a voice comes from the cloud; it is the heavenly Father’s voice, saying, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” The disciples look again, they no longer see Moses and Elijah, they see Jesus only. Those are the essentials of the Transfiguration account, as it occurs in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the basic facts of the event being the same, but with each gospel writer highlighting this or that detail, or describing it in his own way.

There are so many things going on in this narrative, and with three gospels to work from, that a preacher could go for many years and focus his sermon on a different aspect each year. Today I want to focus on one point in particular, in verse 3, where it says, “and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” What is the significance of this bright white clothing, and what does it mean for us? Thus our theme this morning: “The White Clothes of Jesus.”

All three of the gospel writers who have a Transfiguration account mention this detail, each saying it in his own way. Matthew has “and his clothes became white as light.” Luke says, “and his clothing became dazzling white.” And here in Mark we find the most complete description, where it says, “and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” “White as light,” “dazzling white,” “radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” Surely the glorious appearance of our Lord must have made a deep impression on the disciples who witnessed it. They hadn’t seen anything like it.

Jesus’ clothes became radiant, shining, intensely, exceedingly, dazzling white. Mark adds the phrase, “as no one on earth could bleach them,” that’s how extra bright white they were. And actually there’s a word there in the Greek that isn’t brought out in this translation. The text actually says, translating it, “as no launderer on earth could bleach them.” Or, as no “cloth refiner” could bleach them. “Fuller” is the old-fashioned word for someone who launders and bleaches clothing so that it comes out clean and white. And Mark is saying, you couldn’t find anybody on earth who could get those clothes that white. Pour the Clorox on ten times over, and it wouldn’t come out so shiny white.

Now Jesus’ clothes were not ordinarily exceptionally white. Jesus was a man who walked around a lot on the dusty roads of Palestine. He got in among the crowds, and people were pressing in on him, wanting to touch even the hem of his garment. He got in and out of fishing boats, which can have their own distinctive stains and smells. Jesus was not afraid to get his hands dirty, hanging out with sick people and demoniacs and low-life sinners. There was nothing about Jesus’ appearance normally that looked out of the ordinary. You wouldn’t have seen a halo around his head as he walked through town. His clothes would have gotten dusty and dirty and stained with sweat.

But now, on this occasion, suddenly his clothes become cleaner than clean, brighter than bright, whiter than white. What gives? What gives is that Jesus here is being revealed in his true glory as the only Son of God. This is a manifestation, an epiphany, of the divine glory that was always his, from eternity, but which had been hidden, subdued, during the days since he came in the flesh as the Son of Man. But now, for this brief moment, the light switch is thrown back on, giving the disciples a glimpse of who Jesus really is.

The white clothing, then, whiter than anybody on earth could come up with, is sending the message that this man is actually the Son of God sent from heaven. The white clothes of Jesus are shouting out, “God’s Son! Divine, holy, wholly without sin, pure and undefiled!” Pile up the adjectives, as many as you like, and the white clothing, so brilliant and dazzling, is the sign and the visual aid that is sending that message.

Now the disciples are seeing just who it is that they have been following. To be sure, Jesus’ words and his works have been sending the same message. This is God’s Son, this is the Messiah, come in the flesh. Jesus’ wisdom and mercy, his divine authority, so eminently displayed in his teaching, his preaching, his works of healing, casting out demons–all this has led the disciples to this point to confess with Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

But lately, just recently, Jesus has been adding a new note to what he has been telling the disciples. He’s begun saying–crazy talk, really–he’s been saying that he’s about to go to Jerusalem, where he will suffer and be rejected and be killed. Very disturbing stuff. This has not fit into the disciples’ paradigm of what should happen to the Messiah. But this most memorable moment at the Transfiguration will better enable them to handle what will happen, even if they don’t put it all into perspective until after the resurrection.

In other words, the Transfiguration, and these white clothes of Jesus, beyond any earthly kind of white–this is telling the disciples, and telling us, that this is God’s own Son who is going to the cross for us. The disciples need to know this. We need to know this. This man Jesus who goes now the way of the cross–he’s not just a good example of a noble martyr, he’s more than a misunderstood teacher who gets put to death unjustly. No, much more than that, Jesus Christ is God’s own Son, willingly suffering humiliation and death for our sake. Christ is laying aside the glory that is rightfully his, in order to achieve a surpassingly great purpose precisely by his rejection and death.

That Jesus is revealed in his glory by the extraordinarily white clothing; that he is revealed in his glory by the appearance of the prophets Moses and Elijah, who, by the way, had had occasions of their own when they each went up on a mountain and met with–they met with God, don’t you get it?–that Jesus is revealed in his glory by the Father affirming him in the voice from the cloud–all of these things are like giant fingers pointing to Jesus and saying, “Here he is! Look who it is who is going to suffer and die for your sake! Take it in. Think about it. Listen to him. Trust in him. Let him do for you what you cannot do, which is to save you from your sins and from the death that results. This is the one who can do it, the only one, God’s Son, Jesus Christ.”

Dear friends, you need the white clothes of Jesus to save you. Look at your own garments. Not too clean, are they? No, covered with dirt and soiled with sin, they are very unclean. Think about those filthy thoughts you have had, filled with hate and lust and greed. Think about those foul words you’ve been spewing about, maligning others, and the mud you’ve been slinging has gotten on your own supposedly clean clothes. Think of those righteous, religious deeds that you’ve prided yourself in. But the Bible says, “All our righteous deeds are like filthy rags, like a polluted garment.” No, you can’t make it into heaven dressed like that. They’d throw you out at the door. No, you need a change of clothing.

Guess what? You get to wear the white clothes of Jesus! You get to be clothed with Christ, robed with his righteousness! That’s a pretty good deal! The Bible declares–and this is God’s promise to you: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” How does this miraculous cleansing take place? Not through any efforts of yours. But you get to wear the Jesus clothes.

And it’s because of a clothing exchange. Let me explain. You see, those dazzling white clothes that Jesus wore on the glorious Mount of Transfiguration–Jesus came down that mountain and walked the way of the cross, heading for Jerusalem. There Jesus did suffer for our sake. The Roman soldiers took off his garments and clothed him with a scarlet robe, mocking him as the King of the Jews. Stripped even of that, he was then led out and crucified, bleeding and dying in our place, for our sins. From glory to shame, from the mountaintop to the grave, Jesus went this route to redeem us from sin and death.

And when Jesus had completed that mission, suffering and dying for the sins of the world, then on Easter morning at the empty tomb there stood an angel, dressed in white, announcing his resurrection. Do you get it? Yes, you do! The white garments, those glorious white garments, are sending a message to us: Christ is your resurrection. Christ is your life. You too will be transfigured, raised to glorious eternal life, because you have been clothed with Christ’s robe of righteousness.

Dear friends, fellow believers in Christ, you and I have been graciously dressed with the white clothes of Jesus. It happened in your baptism. Galatians says, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” And so the traditional white christening gown is meant to convey just that reality. It’s also why I wear this white alb as your minister. I get to be your visual aid, telling you that we are clean to enter into God’s presence when we are clothed with Christ.

In the Book of Revelation, St. John, one of the three disciples who had witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus, gets to see a whole multitude of people clothed in white robes. And what he is told about them is this: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” That, dear friends, is the final outcome of those wonderful white clothes of Jesus at the Transfiguration. Through the sin-cleansing blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, by faith we have had our garments washed clean and made white, and we will wear them joyfully unto eternal life.

“The Cleansing of Naaman: How Can Water Do Such Great Things?” (2 Kings 5:1-14)

Our text is the Old Testament Reading for today, the story of the cleansing of Naaman. Short version: Naaman was a man who had leprosy. He was told, “Wash, and be clean.” And, after some objections, Naaman did wash, and he did become clean. But there’s more here than meets the eye, as we will see. For one thing, this story raises the question: How could simply washing in a river–and a pretty unimpressive river, at that–how could that cleanse a man of leprosy? And what does this story have to do with us? Most of us do not have leprosy, and we’re nowhere near the Jordan River. And so our theme this morning: “The Cleansing of Naaman: How Can Water Do Such Great Things?”

Let’s start by reviewing the story of Naaman. Our text begins: “Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria.” So let’s set the scene. Naaman was a great and powerful man, the top army general for the nation of Syria. That also means that he was not an Israelite. Naaman was a Gentile, someone who was not part of God’s covenant people.

“He was a mighty man of valor,” our text says, “but he was a leper.” Leprosy. A dreaded skin disease. A chronic infectious disease that causes skin sores, nerve damage, and muscle weakness. It disfigures the body, and it gets worse over time. Naaman was a mighty man, but he had no power to stop the leprosy that had begun to afflict his body.

Our text continues: “Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, ‘Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.’” So this little servant girl, an Israelite, even though she had been taken captive by the Syrians, now, by God’s providence, now she is going to be a blessing to the very people who had captured her. She recommends that General Naaman go and see a prophet that she knows about back in Israel. She is referring to the prophet Elisha, by the way.

Notice what is happening here. A little servant girl is going to be God’s channel of blessing for a mighty man of valor. An Israelite is going to bring blessing to a Gentile. This is a story we see over and over again in the Old Testament. Think of Joseph bringing blessing to Egypt. Think of Daniel serving in the courts of Babylon. Here it is a captured servant girl getting God’s blessing to a general of Syria. The Lord has a way of getting his people in contact with the nations of the world in order to bring blessing to them. Think of what the Lord told Abram in Genesis 12: “I will bless you, and you will be a blessing, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The servant girl tells Mrs. Naaman, Mrs. Naaman tells her husband, and Naaman then tells the king: “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria says, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” The wheels are in motion.

So Naaman sets out for Israel, “taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing.” Naaman figures if he brings a big payoff for the king of Israel, this will help secure him a healing.

So Naaman arrives in Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom, Israel, and he presents a letter from the king of Syria to the king of Israel. It reads: “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.”

Well, a big haul of money, official correspondence from one king to another, and on behalf of a mighty general. If a healing could be arranged by human means, this would surely do it. But no. “Trust not in princes,” the Bible says. The kings of this earth have no power to do what only God can do. Money can’t buy you a healing from leprosy.

And the king of Israel realizes this. He reads the letter, and, knowing he does not have the power to do what the king of Syria asks, in his distress he tears his clothes and says, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy?” No, no king is God, having the power to kill and make alive as only God can. What to do? The king of Israel is at a loss.

“But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, ‘Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.’” The answer to the problem, the power to heal, will come not from a mighty king but rather from a lowly prophet, a preacher, a man of God with only the word of God at his disposal.

“So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him.” Note this. Naaman goes from a king’s palace to a prophet’s home, and then, when he gets there, it is only a messenger who meets him. But the messenger has a word from the Lord to give him.

“Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” OK, clear enough. But this is definitely not what Naaman was expecting. The whole thing seems like a major letdown to him. Naaman gets angry. He says: “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.” No, Naaman, no big display of magic. Just a word to go on, a word to go and wash in the Jordan.

Go and wash in the Jordan? That too is not very impressive, as Naaman says: “Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” You see, if you were basing the power of the healing on the impressiveness of the water used, Naaman would be right. Look, I have been to the Jordan, I’ve seen it, and it is no mighty Mississippi. More like a glorified creek.

Well, everything so far has been a letdown. So Naaman goes off in a huff. “But his servants came near and said to him, ‘My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, “Wash, and be clean”?’ So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”

“Wash, and be clean.” Naaman washes, and he is made clean. “According to the word.” So here’s the bottom line: No amount of wealth, no king’s letter, no king’s palace or power could get the job done. Only God has the power to heal leprosy, and he can’t be bought off with a pile of gold. Only a word from the Lord can do the job, and even if it’s delivered by a humble messenger, the word will do the work. And if the Lord chooses to attach his word to water as his means, and even if that water is not outwardly impressive, if it’s got the Lord’s word working through it, the result is complete and total cleansing.

Now the message to us should be clear. The first thing is, we have a problem much worse than leprosy. Worse than any skin disease is our sin disease. Sin–disobedience to God, defiance of his will–sin is the disease that infects us all, and it is a killer. Our sin disease is terminal. Death, and eternal death, is the end result. And we can’t do anything to heal ourselves of it. No amount of money can cure us of sin or deliver us from death.

Only God can do those things. And he has acted to bring about the cure. God sent his own Son into the world to pay the price needed to set us free. That price is far more costly than ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. The price paid was the blood of Christ, shed on the cross. You and I have been redeemed “not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.”

And how does that redemption, that cleansing, get delivered to us? Through means. And rather humble, ordinary-looking means. A preacher standing in a pulpit in a small-town church, preaching to maybe a couple dozen people in the pews. A pastor laying hands on a contrite sinner and saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” A piece of bread, a cup of wine, but with the words, “This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” And, like the cleansing of Naaman, just some water–and not very impressive-looking water, at that–but with a word from the Lord, “Wash, and be clean.”

You see, Holy Baptism is for us, in an even greater way, what the washing in the Jordan was for Naaman. Christian theologians have long seen a parallel between the two, Naaman’s cleansing and ours in Baptism. Back in the second century, the early church father Irenaeus wrote: “It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but this served as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions, being spiritually regenerated as newborn babes.”

And it is the word that does it. When the word of God is attached to the water, you can know for certain that God is at work, doing a mighty cleansing. As you learned in the catechism, Holy Baptism “works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.”

“How can water do such great things?” we might ask. The catechism then gives us the answer: “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s Word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.”

Dear friends, just as Naaman was cleansed of his leprosy by the washing of the water and the word, so too you and I have been cleansed of our spiritual leprosy by the washing of the water and the word. Wherever the Lord God has attached his mighty gospel word, assuring us of forgiveness and life by the blood of Christ, there God is at work to do just what his word says. Dear friends, trust in that word. Thank God for the cleansing he has given you in Holy Baptism. God’s word will never let you down. No, it will always lift you up, no matter how outwardly unimpressive it may appear. God does mighty miracles through lowly means. Just ask Naaman. It happened in his cleansing in the waters of the Jordan. It happens in our cleansing in the waters of Holy Baptism. “How can water do such great things?” Answer: By the power of God’s word.

“And He Healed Many” (Mark 1:29-39)

Yesterday, on a pastors’ e-mail list that I’m a part of, one of the men, Pastor Jay Webber of Arizona, brought a prayer request to our group on behalf of his son Paul and daughter-in-law Ruth. He’s given me permission to share this with you, by the way. His daughter-in-law, Ruth Webber, is 23 years old, and she is six months into her first pregnancy. However, she has been diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer, stomach cancer. Her chances for survival, Pastor Webber reports, are not good. Right now she’s up at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The baby’s birth will be induced in a day or so, and the child will be rushed to the neonatal unit–and baptized, too, I might add. The baby’s name will be John. Once the baby is born, new mother Ruth will begin aggressive treatment for her cancer, undergoing radiation and chemotherapy.

Pastor Webber writes in his e-mail, “This is a nightmare. But we are not waking up from it.” He then adds these words, though, quoting in Latin the words of the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus begging for help for a sick daughter, “Domine, adjuva me!” “Lord, help me!”

This is the kind of story that rips your heart apart, even if you’re not the one living it. But it also touches your heart, deeply, to see the faith in the Lord’s goodness that God has given to the Webber family. “Domine, adjuva me!” “Lord, help me!” The question is, Will he? Will the Lord help this pastor and his son and daughter-in-law and their newborn baby? And what will that help look like?

These are the kinds of questions raised as we consider the Holy Gospel for today, a portion of Mark 1, in which Jesus goes about helping and healing lots and lots of people. “And he healed many who were sick with various diseases,” it says. OK, fine, good for those people back then. “And He Healed Many.” But our question is, Will he heal us?

As I say, Jesus was pretty good at healing people back then. No daughters-in-law in this story, but there is a mother-in-law. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. She was flat on her back, sick with a fever. But Jesus comes in, takes her by the hand, and lifts her up. Bing, bang, bong. Fever is gone, just like that. So does Jesus only do these things for his friends? Or does he heal the lady just to get her to wait on him? It says, “she began to serve them.”

No, I don’t think that’s it. Because lots of other folks get healed, too. “That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons,” our text says. “And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.” Jesus seems to be healing all sorts of people with all sorts of problems, and rather indiscriminately. Not just friends. Not just fevers. Not just mothers-in-law who can get up and bring you a nice cup of tea and some cookies. No, Jesus looked to be in the healing business back then, and really heavily into it.

That was then, this is now. So what are we, chopped liver? Don’t our needs count? God knows, we have enough of them. There’s no lack of sick people among us. I mean, look around. See some of those people who are not here this morning? There are a number of them who are at home, sick. And even among the people who are here this morning, I bet you we could find enough hurting people who would appreciate a healing or two.

Oh, I know, it must be our lack of faith! If only we would believe harder, then we would get a healing. Or maybe it’s some unconfessed sin in our lives. We’ve got to obey better, in order to earn our healing. No, those are the high-pressure techniques of the charlatan faith-healers, with their built-in, ready-made excuses for why they can’t produce healings for all the poor souls they’re fleecing.

But that still leaves us with the question: Did Jesus go out of the healing business? Why the favoritism for those folks in the first century? Has Jesus lost his touch? No, none of that. OK, so what about the young mother with the stomach cancer? What about the old man on hospice? Or even the middle-aged guy with the creaky joints and bad eyesight? Can’t Jesus muster up some miracles for his followers today? What happened to the healings?

Here’s the deal. All those people who were healed back then in the first century? They all died. Peter’s mother-in-law? Dead. You see, Jesus healed them, yes. But then they all went on to die later on. The healing was only temporary. And so it would be for us. To quote the eminent theologian Joycelyn Elders, “We’re all probably gonna die of somethin’.”

So what was the point of Jesus doing these healings? If it was only a temporary stop-gap measure, and if it was only for a few years during his public ministry, and only for a few folks in Galilee, then what was the point?

The point was to demonstrate what would be the ultimate outcome of Jesus’ coming among us. The healings were a sneak preview, if you will, of the permanent healing to come. In other words, what Jesus came to do, the purpose of his mission, will result in complete healing and wholeness forever. Nothing temporary about it. Eternal healing, that is what we’re headed for. And on the basis of Christ’s coming, where’s he’s going with all of this, as he walks about Galilee, dispensing blessing left and right. There’s a place he’s moving toward, there’s a direction in which he’s going, and when he gets there and does what he came to do, then that is going to issue forth in complete and total restoration for all those who trust in him. That’s you, sister, and that’s me, brother. That’s the young mother with stomach cancer and the old man on hospice who’s taking it a day at a time.

You see, all these afflictions and ailments we suffer under, the sicknesses and sorrows–they all have one cause, and they all have one cure. The cause is sin, and the cure is Christ. Now when I say the cause is sin, I do not mean that this particular sickness is caused necessarily by that particular sin. That would be tying cause and effect too narrowly. But in a broader sense, yes, generally, all sickness, all death, is the result of sin. Our sin. The fallen sinful condition that we all share. You and I have sinned against God, in many ways breaking his commandments, and we reap the brokenness and the consequences and the curse that our race of sinners has come under.

So Christ came to deal with this root cause that produces all the bad results. The only way for that root of sin to be dealt with is–well, it’s precisely what Jesus did. The Son of God came as our brother, keeping God’s law in our stead. Jesus Christ is the only one who has earned God’s favor by his works. No cause for death in him. But to deal with our death, Jesus had to take it upon himself. Paying the price for our sins on the cross, God’s own Son won forgiveness for everyone–yes, even you. Nothing you have ever done wrong is too big or too small for Christ not to have included in his death on the cross. All of it has been covered. You are completely forgiven, for Christ’s sake.

So when you are sick, when you are suffering, it’s not as though God is punishing you. That punishment Christ already took in your place. No, God is doing another work in your life, drawing you close to himself, inviting you to take refuge in his infinite, yet intimate, mercy. Your heavenly Father is holding you in his loving arms, enfolding you in his loving embrace. This is a time to be reassured of his goodness, knowing that Christ Jesus died and rose for you and that your eternal future is secure.

Yes, Jesus is still in the healing business. It’s not like he’s lost his touch. The healings he did long ago were enough to show that this is what is in store for all of us, and with no expiration date on it. Dear Christian friend, our Lord Jesus has touched you, forgiving your sins and claiming your body as included in his healing. It happened when you were baptized, when you were joined to Jesus’ resurrection, and God washed that saving water over your body. It happens every time you receive Christ’s body and blood into your mouth–again, God is saying, “I have redeemed your body, as well as your soul.”

God is committed to the healing of your body–indeed, of his whole physical creation–all of which will be restored new and glorious when our Savior Christ comes again. These old bones of ours will be made new, no longer subject to disease or decay or death. I don’t know yet exactly what all that will look like, but I do know that it will be great, and it will be forever, and it will surely happen.

For right now–for right now, if you are faced with a devastating illness in the family, the nightmare is very real, and it doesn’t go away when you wake up in the morning. And so, of course, we rightly cry out, “Domine, adjuva me!” “Lord, help me!” And we pray that the Lord will, in his mercy, grant healing to the sick, even here in this life. Sometimes the Lord does this healing work through doctors, to whom he has given such wisdom.

But should that not be the case, should the physical healing not come, we know that the Lord has something even better in store for us. There will come a morning when we will wake up from the nightmare, and the pain will be no more. Just as our Lord Jesus Christ arose on Easter morning, so too all who trust in him will arise “in that great gettin’-up mornin’.” This is our sure hope. This is what we are looking forward to. This is what all those healings in Jesus’ ministry were pointing ahead to: The resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.

Jesus is still in the healing business. He’s doing it here today, among us, every time his gospel comes to us in Word and Sacrament. Total forgiveness, total healing, for sick and dying sinners. Complete wholeness, in body, soul, and spirit, begun now and completed at Christ’s second coming.

“And he healed many.” Hey, he has healed, and he will heal, all of us, too! Young mother, old man, daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law, and even a few outlaws: There is healing–real, final, forever healing–for all who belong to Christ.

“A New Teaching with Authority!” (Mark 1:21-28)

Our text today is the Holy Gospel, the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue and rebuking an unclean spirit, and the people’s reaction to what he was doing. They rightly saw that this was “A New Teaching with Authority!”

“Jesus entered the synagogue and was teaching,” our text says. We sometimes forget that Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher. During his ministry, he would travel around to various places and teach. And one place where he regularly went was to the synagogue. Now the temple in Jerusalem was the place for the nation as a whole to worship, and all the Jews would go there several times a year. But the synagogue was the local place of worship, right in their own town, and the Jews would go there every week on the Sabbath. They went to the synagogue to hear the word of God. They would sing psalms, hear readings from the Scriptures, and listen to the rabbi expound on some point from the Law or the Prophets.

And so it was that Jesus went to the synagogue in Capernaum, on the Sabbath, and he began to teach. But there was something different about this man and his teaching. It says the people were “astonished” at his teaching, because “he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” The astonishing thing about the teaching of this rabbi, the thing that was so different from what they were used to, was, in a word, his “authority.”

Jesus “taught them as one who had authority.” What kind of authority is this? Where does his authority come from? It is divine authority, coming from God himself. Remember what the Father said to Jesus at his baptism: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Father was affirming Jesus’ authority to speak and act for God himself. For Jesus is the eternal Son of God, come from the Father, come to do his Father’s will. He is the very image of God. When Jesus speaks, he speaks with authority, because his words are Spirit-filled, life-giving, powerful, effective, creative words of God. His words do what they say. Jesus speaks and acts with divine authority.

In the Old Testament reading for today, from Deuteronomy 18, God said that he would raise up a great prophet from among the people of Israel. The Lord said, “I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.” That great prophet is Jesus Christ, the Son of God come in the flesh. “It is to him you shall listen.” For Jesus knows the will of his Father perfectly, and he came down from heaven to proclaim it and to teach it–indeed, to do his Father’s will, to carry it out, to bring the will of God to fulfillment.

And what was the content of Jesus’ preaching and teaching? Jesus summed it up like this: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Jesus spoke clearly, calling people to turn from their way of sin, which leads to death, and to be made alive by the good news of forgiveness and salvation. That was, and still is, the teaching of Jesus. That’s what he is speaking to you today, calling you to repent from your self-chosen ways and to receive the life that he gives. That voice of authority–that authoritative teaching was what astonished the people in the synagogue in Capernaum.

“And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” What Jesus was teaching was a new teaching to them, and it came with authority. Those people in the synagogue were used to the teaching of the scribes. Their scribes, their religious experts, taught that if you follow a certain code of behavior, that if you do certain things, then God will be pleased with you and you will earn his favor. So there came to be a focus on particular points of the law. And not really even God’s law. It was their own man-made additions to the law that they emphasized. All sorts of little regulations that they came up with, which ironically made the law into something they thought they could master. How many steps can I take on the Sabbath? How many tassels should I have on my prayer shawl? The scribes and the Pharisees defined the righteous life by this kind of external, manageable behavior–all the while ignoring the deep-rooted pride and hypocrisy within their hearts. The focus had moved away from the Lord God speaking to them and saving them and had moved instead toward a God who watched what you were doing, to make sure you did the right things–and if you tried hard enough and looked good enough on the outside, you could make it.

But maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on those scribes, for we do the same thing. We think that we’re basically pretty good people, that God must be pleased with us. “I try my best–well, maybe not all the time, but at least I’m better than the guy down the street or those bad people on TV. God had better be pleased with me, or else I’m going to have to dump him as a God.” That’s the attitude of the world all around us, and it seeps into us. In fact, it comes rather naturally to every one of us. “I’m a good person. God must like me. I do enough and I’m good enough to please him.” That, in essence, is a religion of works, a religion of the law. And it’s not that much different from the teaching of the scribes and Pharisees.

A religion of the law, a religion that focuses on your goodness, will do one of two things. It will either puff you up with pride or drive you to despair. On the one hand, you may become proud, thinking that you are a good enough person, who deserves God’s favor. Or, on the other hand, if you’re honest with yourself, and you realize that you cannot keep the demands of God’s law, that you’re not good enough, then you will be driven to despair, losing hope that God could ever love a rotten sinner like you. And your adversary, Satan, knows that. The devil will try to keep you focused on yourself–either to take pride in how good a person you are or to get stuck on what a failure you are. Anything to keep your eyes off Jesus.

If religion finally is about keeping the law, about you being good enough, then it is no longer about God saving you through Christ. And when the focus is off what Christ has done and instead is on what you do, then you are left with a terrible, nagging question: Is it enough? Have I done enough? Am I good enough? There is no certainty in that way of life, only doubt. For the simple answer is, No, you have not been good enough. You can never do enough. You are a sinner, lost on your own, in spite of what the world teaches. The teaching of the scribes, of a manageable law that you can master–this is not the authoritative teaching that Jesus brings. No, he brings a new teaching with authority.

The astonishing thing about Jesus’ teaching was that he broke through the fog that the scribes had created and he spoke with the bright clear beam of heavenly light. He spoke straight from God, with a voice that penetrates the heart. Can you hear him today? He is speaking to you, saying: “Get over yourself! Stop pretending and playing games. You can’t save yourself; only God can save you. Receive the forgiveness I bought for you with my blood on the cross. And with that forgiveness, I am giving you the Spirit and the strength to live as a Christian, as a child of God. Rely on me, day by day.” Jesus astonishes us with his straight-from-heaven, straight-to-the-heart teaching! And that’s how he astonished the people in the synagogue–with his authority.

And then, as if to demonstrate the authority of his teaching, Jesus has an encounter with a man with an unclean spirit. This unclean spirit that had come into the poor man cries out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God.” This demon knows who Jesus is! He knows and is afraid, because the demon thinks that Jesus has come to destroy him.

Well, he’s right! Jesus did come to destroy the works of the devil. All the way back to the Garden of Eden, God had promised that an offspring of Eve would crush Satan’s head, even though Satan would bruise his heel. Of course, God was talking about Jesus, born of the virgin Mary–Jesus, who would destroy Satan, at the cost of his own life.

And now here was a demon, an agent of Satan, afflicting a child of God. And so Jesus rebukes the demon and commands him, “Be silent, and come out of him!” Hear the authority in Jesus’ voice! Amazing authority! The demon did come out of the man, leaving with a shriek and a shake. Jesus’ words are powerful and effective. They do what they say. They reach the target, they accomplish their purpose.

The Holy One of God came down to earth for this purpose: For our salvation. Christ came to crush Satan’s head and to redeem us, to rescue us and set us free, free from the snares and assaults of the devil. Jesus, by his sin-atoning death on the cross and by his life-bestowing resurrection from the dead–Christ Jesus won the victory for you, you who realize your own helplessness. It is victory over sin, over Satan, over death and the demons of hell. And he delivers this victory to you by his word, the very word you are hearing right now.

“A new teaching with authority!” Christ Jesus speaks and acts with astonishing, amazing authority. Jesus doesn’t give you the same old thing, the empty works-religion of the scribes or the “good-enough” religion of our own time, a teaching that can only lead you to either pride or despair, and thus would lead you straight to hell. No, this is a new teaching with authority. Jesus speaks straight from God and straight to your heart, and his words do what they say. They lift you up to heaven! Jesus speaks the forgiveness of sins into your ears, and it is so. He speaks his word with the water, and it is a baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace. He speaks his word with the bread and wine, and it is the blessed sacrament of his body and blood, giving you forgiveness, life, and salvation. Jesus speaks, and demons flee. Jesus speaks, and we are free! Truly, a new teaching with authority!

“Net Growth” (Mark 1:14-20)

Where are the fish? Where have all the fish gone? This is the question on the mind of most every church in America these days. And no, I’m not talking about trout and catfish. I’m talking about people. Where are the fish, where are all the people? Why aren’t we seeing them in the church like we used to? Whose fault is it? Whom can we blame? Our numbers are down. Attendance, offerings–that’s what we’re fishing for, isn’t it? Maybe we need to try a different net. Why aren’t we seeing any (if you’ll pardon the pun) “Net Growth”?

These are the questions raised in our minds when we think about our text for today, the Holy Gospel from Mark 1. There Jesus himself uses the people-as-fish metaphor when he calls some fishermen to be his disciples: “Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”

So here are some of the questions that we want to address: Who are the fishermen? Where do we fit in, you and I? What happened to all the fish? Do we need a different net? What is our net? Is the church seeing any net growth? Here we go.

First, who are the fishermen? In our text, they were Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, then James and John, the sons of Zebedee. All four were commercial fisherman operating on the Sea of Galilee. But all four had met Jesus, and now Jesus calls them to follow him as his disciples. And Jesus is going to give them a new livelihood, with a new set of fish to catch: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

But now, Peter and Andrew, James and John–in what capacity will they become fishers of men? For they would be not only disciples, like all of us Christians who follow Jesus, these men in particular would also be apostles, the unique and unrepeatable apostles of Christ, foundational to the New Testament church. And then again, the apostles also would be the first pastors, the first men to hold the Office of the Holy Ministry, the first preachers of the church. So in which of these capacities are they being called to be fishers of men?

In all of them, really, whether directly or indirectly, as we work our way out from the narrowest sense to the broadest sense. As the apostles of Christ, Peter, Andrew, James, and John do set the foundation for how all the future fishing should be conducted. As the first pastors of the church, Peter and Andrew and the rest show what all pastors are called to do, and that is, to be fishers of men through their ministry. But in the broadest sense, this calling to be fishers of men applies to the whole church, pastors and laypeople alike, since we all are involved, in one way or another, in the church’s mission. On this day, in our church, for instance, we think of how all the elected officers of our congregation and our auxiliaries work together to support the church’s work. And besides that, every one of us, in our own personal life and witness–in our “network” of friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors–every one of us can be a part of bringing people into the church’s net.

So that’s how we fit in as fishers of men. But even before we are fishermen, we are first fish. Yes, you and I are the fish who have been caught in the church’s net. And thank God we have been! Our being brought into Christ’s church isn’t based on how much work we will do. No, it’s all by grace, a gift freely given, that we have been made a part of the church. The main thing is not our work for God, but rather God’s work, Christ’s work, in saving us.

This is what Christ has done, entirely apart from any efforts on our part. He did it all, taking our burden of sin and carrying it to the cross for us. His work, not ours, gets the job done. Forgiveness for our sins is won solely by the blood of Christ, shed on our behalf. Only the Son of God could win our forgiveness, and he has. In so doing, he has conquered death for us, winning the victory at Easter and sharing it with us through Holy Baptism. And it is through that water that we become the little fishes brought into the life-saving net of the church. Again, all God’s doing, not ours. First we must be fish who are caught before we can become fishermen who do any catching.

“Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” OK, Jesus, so where are all the fish? Why aren’t they here? Why aren’t we seeing them? That’s what’s perplexing us these days. I suppose it’s the existential crisis of what will happen to our congregation if the numbers are down and even the fish that we have are aging, the results of fishing expeditions from long ago. What happened to all the fish? Why aren’t they coming into the net like they used to?

While not minimizing our concern–this is something to be concerned about, and we all need to examine how the church, and each one of us in the church, could be more diligent in our fishing–at the same time, we need to remind ourselves that the results are not up to us. “The wind blows where it wishes,” Jesus says in John 3, “and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” In other words, you can’t predict who will be converted or where. And you can’t make anyone become a Christian. That’s up to the Spirit. Our Augsburg Confession picks up on this and states: “Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given. He works faith, when and where it pleases God, in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ’s sake.”

So there is a tide in the affairs of men–there are seasons when the fishing seems to be going really good in our neck of the lake, and then there are other times when the lake seems to be dead and there are no fish to be found. We seem to be in one of those latter stretches right now in America. Not many are coming to faith. Numbers are down, all across our country.

So do we need a different net? Maybe the one we’ve been using isn’t doing the job anymore. Maybe we should switch and use different bait to lure the fish in. Programs. Fun and games. Peppy music, light and frothy. None of this sin-and-grace business anymore. That’s not what people want to hear. You’ve got to appeal to their desires, give them what they want, keep the customers satisfied. So get rid of the crosses, get rid of the Christ-crucified talk, get rid of the Sacraments, and go for the saccharine! That’ll bring the people in!

Well, maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but it won’t be the church you will be growing. It won’t be Christians you will be gaining if you switch the net. You’ll just be affirming people in their sin and lostness, making them feel like everything is alright, when it isn’t.

No, if we’re going to be fishers of men, let’s use the net that Jesus gave us to use and nothing else in its place. And what is that net? It is the gospel. It is the preaching of Law and Gospel, just as Jesus himself preached: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” There is our net. There is our message. Repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name. Nothing else will get the job done as Jesus would have it be done. The problem is not in the net. It will catch the fish that are meant to be caught. So let’s make sure that that is the net we are using: The Word of God, the gospel in its truth and purity, Word and Sacrament, the very tools that Jesus would have us to use.

Let’s use that net, really use it, and then leave the results up to God. He’ll catch all the fish he wants to be caught. None will be lost. But the ones that are caught will be caught in the right way, through repentance and faith.

So is there, will there be, any net growth? Oh, yes, there is and there will be. The church is growing, believe it or not. Maybe not so much here, now. But even here and now, there are still some being saved and coming into the church. We see it in our own congregation, with a few new members coming in. Maybe not in large numbers, but for those people coming in, God is doing a precious work, a life-saving work. The gospel is having its effect in hearts and lives. We need to remind ourselves of that–I need to remind myself of that, as a pastor. We can become so easily discouraged, when all we look at is numbers. But God is saving people, and keeping us in our salvation, even here in and through our congregation.

Like I say, numbers are down, in churches all across America. Luther and Walther would talk about the blessings of the gospel in a land as being like a passing rain shower–a “fahrender Platzregen,” to use the German. There is a season of a great outpouring of God’s grace upon a land, with many people coming to faith. And then, when the people begin to take the Word of God for granted and to despise it, the rain shower passes on to another place. That seems to be what has happened to America and to Europe lately. We’re in a drought right now. The rain shower is falling elsewhere. And indeed, in Africa and in Asia right now, there are showers of gospel blessing in abundance! Thousands, millions, of people are being converted, in places like Kenya, Madagascar, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. Often in places of great persecution, often in places of great poverty, the church is growing by leaps and bounds. The nets are full, and more are coming in. This is exciting. We should rejoice for this net growth, as God is bringing more and more people into the church and giving them the gift of eternal salvation.

And let us pray that a rain front would once again pass through our own land and our own community. We don’t deserve it. We have been very negligent and ungrateful for having the Word of God in our midst. But God is gracious. A season of blessing may come our way again.

In any case, this is a time to cast our net into the sea. It is the gospel net, the message of salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. It is his voice that will call the fish in: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” And it is his voice that continues to call his church to her mission and gives it success: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” It is his net, and he will give the growth. The gospel net caught us, and it will continue to catch others, here and around the world.

“Can Anything Good Come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:43-51)

Can anything good come out of Bonne Terre? Can anything good come out of Potosi? Or let’s be more specific: Can anything good come out of St. Matthew’s? Can anything good come out of Redeemer? Those may be the kinds of questions in the minds of the people we meet and talk to. And the attitude behind the questions would be a rather dubious one. Believe it or not, some people may not think very much of those little podunk towns, Bonne Terre and Potosi, or of those little Lutheran churches, St. Matthew’s and Redeemer–if people have even heard of them in the first place. And this, in turn, can create doubts and even embarrassment in our own minds. We might become reluctant or even ashamed to speak up for, and invite people to, our church.

Can anything good come out of Bonne Terre? Can anything good come out of Potosi? Well, guess what, the disciple Philip had to face the same sort of skepticism when he spoke up for a man called Jesus of Nazareth. The response was similar: “Can Anything Good Come out of Nazareth?” So let’s see how that went, and how Philip handled it, and it may give us some guidance and encouragement for our own life of witness.

This was early on in Jesus’ public ministry. He was just starting out, and not many had heard of him yet. Now John the Baptist had been preparing the way, and that helped. John had directed a few of his own disciples to start following this man Jesus, whom John identified as “the one coming after me who ranks before me,” as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”–indeed, as “the Son of God.” Andrew and Peter, James and John–those were these earliest of Jesus’ disciples. And they all hailed from the region of Galilee.

That’s where we pick up the story in John 1. “The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee,” it says. Jesus had been down by the Jordan, where John was baptizing. And now from there he goes to Galilee. Funny that he should go there, instead of going to the more important region of Judea and the city of Jerusalem, where all the prestige and the power was. It would be kind of like going to St. Francois County or Washington County, instead of to St. Louis–or, better yet, to Chicago. But for some reason Jesus goes to lowly, backwater Galilee.

Once there, it says, “he found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’” Note the authority in Jesus’ voice, in his call. Jesus calls men and women to come and follow him, as his disciples. This is more than just “believing in God,” in some vague, generic sense. This is more than just following some set of rules for good behavior, so that people will think of you as a nice person. No, the call to follow Jesus is much more than that. It means to be where Jesus is, to hear his voice when he is speaking, and to do that all the time, not just when the mood hits. This is the Son of God speaking, and he is saying to you today–yes, to you who hear me preaching in his name–he is calling you, saying, “Follow me.”

So that’s what Philip does. He follows Jesus. And we learn this about Philip: “Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.” So a couple of Philip’s homeboys, Andrew and Peter, had already heard the call, and now Philip is added to their number. The circle is growing. And it’s happening in Galilee.

And it keeps growing. Having gotten to meet this man Jesus, Philip now, full of excitement, naturally wants to tell somebody about the good thing he has discovered. Philip finds his friend Nathanael and says to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.” This is a Jewish way of saying, “We have found the Messiah, the one prophesied in Scripture.” That’s a pretty big deal. Israel had been waiting for centuries for the Messiah to come. And now Philip is saying, “He’s here! I’ve met him!”

The Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One–this would be the great king, the Son of David, who would bring in the end-time kingdom of God here on earth, a kingdom of blessing and abundance, of deliverance from all their enemies for the people of God. This was the one everyone was waiting for. The fulfillment of all of God’s promises. So for Philip to say, “We’ve found him”–this is pretty big news.

“We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote . . . Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Huh? “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph? Don’t you mean somebody we’ve heard of, somebody famous, someone glorious–someone, say, from Judea, from Jerusalem, from some place important? We’re looking for the Son of David, and you’re telling me about some ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph’? Who ever heard of the Messiah coming from . . . Nazareth?” That’s kind of what’s going on in Nathanael’s head when he then says, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Even in a backwater district like Galilee, there can be some internal rivalries. One small town can look down on another small town as being even lowlier than they. Bethsaida can look down on Nazareth and therefore dismiss anything that comes out of there. That’s what Nathanael was doing with his “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” But if he had stayed with that thought, he would have missed out on everything, on the greatest blessing he would ever receive.

Thank God, Philip did not give up on his witness to Nathanael. He persists, he pleasantly persists. He doesn’t get into a long, heated argument with Nathanael over the relative merits of Nazareth, its good points and its weaknesses. Instead, Philip simply invites Nathanael and says, “Come and see.” In other words, “Come along with me, Nathanael, and meet this man Jesus. I think you’re in for a surprise. There’s more here than what you think you’ll find.”

I think this is instructive for us. Philip doesn’t get sidetracked into a discussion over how great or not-so-great Nazareth is. Instead, he’s going to focus on getting his friend to come with him and meet this man Jesus. “Come and see,” he says. Philip is being pleasantly persistent. Same with us. The focus is not on our congregation, how great it is, because, frankly, there are a lot of congregations with a lot more to boast about in that regard. We’re kind of small. We don’t have a lot of programs or a big, glorious building.

But what we do have–and this something no one can take away from us–what we do have, by God’s grace, is Jesus. Jesus is staying here. This is where Jesus is doing his thing–forgiving sinners, giving life, giving direction and power for Christian living, calling disciples to follow him, granting eternal life to all those who believe in him. All this Jesus is doing here, yes, even here in this dinky little church that doesn’t seem like much.

So never be ashamed or embarrassed about bringing people to where Jesus is, no matter how lowly that place may seem. Be pleasantly persistent. You have some good news to share with your friends and neighbors, the best news in all the world. “We have found the Savior of the world–your Savior too. His name is Jesus. He’s the one God has sent to save us. Come with me and meet him at our church.”

“Oh, what church is that?” “Uh, St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Bonne Terre”–or, “Redeemer Lutheran Church in Potosi.” “‘Luthern’? What’s that? St. Matthew’s? Redeemer? Never heard of ’em. Do you have a big new building? Do you have a lot of programs? What about a fitness center? I’d like a church with a fitness center.”

“No, for that you could go to, well, a fitness center. But what we do have to offer is something no fitness center on earth can give you–eternal life. Forgiveness for your sins. It comes with this fellow Jesus I’d like you to meet. Come and see.”

Yes, dear friend, come and see this man who went to the cross for you. He it is who wins your full forgiveness for all of your sins, everything that would keep you from knowing God and being at peace with him. This man Jesus did this by dying on the cross for you, in your place, paying a price you could never pay, the cost of everything wrong you’ve ever done. Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, did this for you, out of God’s incredible love for us sinners. Then this Jesus rose from the dead, showing that when sins are paid for, death is powerless to hold us.

Jesus now shares this forgiveness and this life with us through his gospel, the good news that God wants everybody to know. You get this only in and through the church. And it doesn’t matter how big or little, how well-known or little-known, that church is. The programs aren’t the main thing, the preaching is–and only if it’s the preaching of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins. The pure gospel of Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament–if it’s got that, that’s the church you want to go to. As long as Jesus is staying there, giving out his gifts, that is what counts. And I guarantee you, my friend, you can find him at St. Matthew’s and at Redeemer.

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asks. “Can anything good come out of Bonne Terre or Potosi?” your neighbors are wondering. And, like Philip, you can tell them, “Come and see.”

“Christ’s Baptism and Ours” (Mark 1:4-11; Romans 6:1-11)

Today the church celebrates the Baptism of Our Lord. On the First Sunday after the Epiphany, every year, we hear an account from one of the gospels of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan by John. “OK, so Jesus got baptized,” you say. “Big deal. Why should I care? What does this have to do with me?” A whole lot. As we shall see. Our reading from Mark and our reading from Romans will make the connection, as we consider the theme: “Christ’s Baptism and Ours.”

First, Christ’s baptism. What’s going on here? What makes it noteworthy that Jesus was baptized? Well, the first thing is, he didn’t need to be. For John was preaching a baptism of repentance out there in the wilderness, and what did Jesus need to repent of? Nothing. The people being baptized were coming out to John confessing their sins. What sins did Jesus have to confess? None. That is what is so odd–at first glance, at least–about Jesus being baptized. He wasn’t a sinner.

How about you? Are you a sinner? Do you have sins to confess? Do you need to hear the preaching of repentance? Oh, very much so, myself included. You and I need to make that trip to the Jordan, for you and I daily sin much, in our thoughts, words, and deeds, in what we do and in what we leave undone. Just read through the Ten Commandments, and realize how thoroughgoing those commandments reach, how serious God is about them, and how penetrating an eye he has, and you will soon have plenty of sins to confess. You will begin to see how deeply rooted is the sin in you.

But with Jesus this was not the case. He is the sole exception, in the whole history of humanity. The only one without sin. Pure and holy is this one coming to the Jordan to be baptized. For he is, in fact, the sinless Son of God, keeping God’s law as it ought to be kept. The only one who can say that.

But then why is he getting baptized? It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t make sense. But it does, when you understand why the Son of God came in the flesh in the first place: namely, to rescue sinners, and to do that by identifying with us. Jesus gets in the water with us, going where sinners belong, for the ministry that he is about to begin will take him to the place where sinners deserve to go: to a cross, dying, under God’s judgment. Jesus’ self-identification with us sinners is the first thing we can say about his baptism.

Next it says, “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening.” The heavens were opened. And really, it’s a little stronger than that. The text actually says, “he saw the heavens being torn open.” It’s the Greek verb “schizo,” which means “to split.” When Jesus was baptized, he saw the heavens “being split apart,” “being torn open.” There’s almost a violent feel to it. It’s like an earthquake in the sky.

What’s going on here? By Jesus, God’s Son, undertaking this saving mission of identifying with sinners and going to the cross for them, there is a profound cosmic shift going on. This is the intersection of heaven and earth. Heaven is opening up, so that the Father and the Spirit can add their blessing to what the Son is doing here.

Which is what they do. First, the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, descends in the form of a dove and rests upon Jesus. This is showing that God’s blessing, power, and choice are resting upon this man, the Christ, the anointed one. Jesus, according to his human nature, is being anointed with power to do the work of his public ministry, which he is about to begin. Wisdom, healing, and blessing will mark Jesus’ ministry, as he inaugurates the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

The Spirit descends, and a voice comes from heaven. It is the voice of the Father, giving divine approval, assurance, and encouragement to his Son as he undertakes his mission: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Father was well pleased with the Son from before the foundation of the world, knowing that the Son would willingly embark on this mission to redeem humanity. Now as the divine, incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, begins that journey to the cross, the Father speaks his approval and his love.

What does all this have to do with you? Everything. The triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all united on this great plan and undertaking to redeem sinful humanity–yes, to save you. That will only happen through Jesus identifying with us sinners and taking our place and bearing our sins into death.

At his baptism, Jesus sets out on this course that will take him to the cross. And since he has completed that journey and defeated death and the devil in the process, the outcome is complete forgiveness for you and victory over death. This is what Christ won for you by making that long journey from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

And now he shares that victory with you when you are joined to him in your baptism. In Holy Baptism, you get connected to Christ, united to him. You have been joined to Jesus. He shares with you all the good things he won for you by his cross and resurrection. That’s where Paul goes with this in his teaching on baptism in Romans 6.

Paul says that in our baptism we have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection. This has implications for both our daily life and our eternal life.

For our daily life, it means a daily dying and rising. Dying to sin, and rising to newness of life. The forgiveness of sins is not meant to be used as a license to sin. That is the distortion of God’s grace that Paul is battling against here. Just because God is gracious and forgives our sins should not be taken as an excuse to go on sinning. No, Christ died for those sins–how can we go on living in them? We have been joined to Jesus, joined in our baptism, and that old sinful self needs to be put under the water and drowned every single day. We come up out of that baptismal water each new day to live as the new people we are in Christ. We have been joined to Jesus, connected to Christ, and that will show up in the way we live. That’s what baptismal living is all about.

Connected to Christ in baptism, this means everything to us for eternal life, too. Our sinful self has been put under the water with Jesus and drowned. Our sins have been washed away. We are forgiven. Peace with God is made. No obstacle, no barrier, exists between us and God. The heavens have been torn open, and the way is clear. Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. Baptized believer in Christ, you have eternal life. You have eternal life now, and that means death will not have the last word. You have been joined to Jesus in baptism, and therefore you will share in his resurrection from the dead.

“Christ’s Baptism and Ours.” Christ puts all the benefits of his baptism into ours. He takes our sins upon himself and gives us his righteousness in their place. Christ baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, to give us life, newness of life now and eternal life forever. The heavenly Father takes us as his own beloved sons and daughters. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal–and a pretty big deal–for us.

“Friday Night Lights” (Matthew 2:1-12; Isaiah 60:1-6; Ephesians 3:1-12)

“Pastor, have you lost your mind? What are you doing, dragging us out here to church on a Friday night, for goodness’ sakes! And in January, no less!” And my answer to that would be: The reason I’ve asked you all here tonight has to do with the “Friday Night Lights.”

Friday night lights. Let me explain. Today is the Epiphany of Our Lord, a major festival of the church year. Epiphany is always January 6–it’s what we call a “fixed-date festival,” determined by the date on the calendar, regardless of the day of the week. In that respect, it’s like Christmas. Christmas is always December 25. Then you have the twelve days of Christmas, which concluded yesterday. And now today, January 6, is Epiphany. And January 6 could fall on any day of the week. This year it’s a Friday. And so we have church tonight. That’s why we’re here.

But the bigger “why” is because of those lights I mentioned. The “Friday night” lights, this year. It’s the light that is shining that brings us here. It’s the light that we see once we get here. And it’s the light that we will take with us that will send us on our way.

First, there is the light that brings us here. The story of the wise men sets the pattern. The wise men, the magi, were most likely court scholars from a land far off to the east somewhere–Babylon, perhaps. They were not Jews, they were Gentiles, but they had had contact with Jews, and they knew something about the Hebrew prophecies. You see, centuries earlier, many of the Jews had been taken captive from the land of Judah and brought to the land of Babylon–people like Daniel, for example, whom we read about in the Old Testament. Daniel knew the prophecies about the Messiah to come, a great king to arise at some point in the future. And Daniel, who served as a foreigner in the courts of Babylon, would have shared that knowledge with the Babylonian scholars. And so that wisdom would have been handed down over several centuries, so that the wise men we read about in our text would have been familiar with it. A scenario like that is most likely. In any case, our wise men, the magi, do know about the expectation of one to be born “king of the Jews.”

The wise men would have also known that the birth of the Messiah was associated with the appearance of a special star. This goes back to a prophecy from the Book of Numbers: “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel.” So in God’s providence, and on the basis of the Holy Scriptures, these Gentile wise men were familiar with the messianic prophecies, about a great king to come, who would be the hope of the whole world, and that when he comes, a special star would herald his arrival. They knew that their gods, the pagan gods, weren’t cutting it, but the Messiah, the king of the Jews, would offer real hope. And so they came searching.

So that is the light that is bringing the wise men to look for the great king. It is the star, yes, but it’s really the Scriptures that link that star with the birth of the Messiah. And then, even when they get to the land of Judah, they need more Scripture to get them to the right place: “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Dear friends, you and I need God’s Word to alert us to our need for a Savior and then to lead us to where we can find him. That’s why you’re here tonight. Oh, you may have come tonight out of habit, or maybe because your spouse bugged you to go, or maybe you came for the cookies and cocoa after the service. But deeper than that, you came really because God had arranged for the star of his Word to lead you here. God’s Word has told you that you need a Savior. God’s Word has told you that he has sent a Savior. And God’s Word has told you that this is where you can find your Savior.

You need a Savior. God’s Word tells us that we all are sinners, lost on our own, lost off far away in the darkness. We were worshiping other gods, gods of our own making, the false gods of this world–pride, sex, money, pleasure, the good life. But God’s Word has worked in our hearts to tell us that those gods aren’t cutting it. They offer us no real hope. They cannot deliver us from a guilty conscience. They cannot save us from ourselves, the bad conduct that we keep on doing. They cannot rescue us from disease or death. You are going to die, and what will become of you then? A whole lot of darkness enshrouds our future. Darkness clouds our minds in the here and now. We need some light, light from above.

But now God’s Word also tells us that God has sent us a Savior. The word of Christ has gone out into the world. The gospel, the good news, is there, even if it’s stuck in the back of our heads as a dim glimmer. But we know, we have heard, that there is this promise of one who can rescue us from our predicament.

And God’s Word points us to where we can find him. At church, here, tonight. You’re not going to hear about Christ out there in the darkness of this world. The world isn’t interested, they’re happy sitting in the dark. But here, this is where we tell you about your Savior. Indeed, this is where you can find him.

As it was for the wise men, so it is for us. The star of God’s Word is the light that brings us to the place where our Savior is. And so that’s the first of the “Friday night lights” tonight.

Then there is the light that we see once we get here. It is the Savior himself. To the Christ child–that’s where the star led the wise men: “And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him.”

The Christ child–he is the real “star” of the show. He is the true light that was coming into the world. God in the flesh, the Son of God incarnate. Here is the Savior you’ve heard about. Here is the Savior you’ve been looking for. The one born king of the Jews is your king, too. He it is who brings light and life to those who are sitting in darkness.

The Savior of the world is here. Not just for Jews, but for Gentiles also. All of us sinners, in such great need of a Savior–this is the one God has sent. There is no other. God has pinpointed this very one, this Jesus, the Christ, leading Jew and Gentile alike to find him here where his gospel is preached. You have come to the right place. This is where Jesus is.

Here you find the one who goes to the cross for you, to suffer and die in your place, so that you would not die eternally. Christ Jesus, the king of the Jews–why, that’s the very title that was placed over his head on the cross. That was the Friday when the lights went out, and darkness came over the land. For Christ himself suffered that darkness, in order to bring you into the light. And then when he rose on Easter morning, the light burst forth, the light of life shining in the darkness, assuring you of resurrection and eternal life in him.

There is light here tonight. Here is where you find Jesus, the real star of the show. When God’s Word lead us to the place where he is, with the wise men we rejoice exceedingly with great joy and we fall down and worship him.

Friday night lights. The light of God’s Word that leads us here. The light of Christ that we find here. Finally, there is the light that we take with us when we leave here. You know, we as God’s people, the church, our congregations, and we individually, as Christians living in the world–we are lights too in a sense. Of course, Christ alone is the source of light, but we as his people–the light of Christ shines through us into a sin-darkened world. God’s intent is that people will see us, and we will be those stars that lead more people to find their Savior.

This has always been true for God’s people. Isaiah prophesied to Israel: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” The church is like a beacon, shining her light so that people will come to the Christ.

Likewise, St. Paul said that, by preaching to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, he was bringing God’s plan to light for everyone, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known.” The church now is acting like that star did for the wise men: leading people from all over the earth to discover their Savior.

And not only in Babylon and Persia and the Far East, but also in Bonne Terre and Potosi and the Farmington Circuit. Far away and close to home, there are people sitting in darkness all around us, and God will use us–our congregations, our pastors, our people–to shine the light of Christ in those places. Friends, Jesus himself is the light of the world, but he also says to us: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Paul says that as the children of God we “shine as lights in the world.” Did you know that we are stars? Oh, we may not be famous, but God has placed us in the world to shine as his lights for people who need light. By your life of good works, your works of love for others done in the name of Christ, and by your verbal witness, the testimony you give to others about Jesus, you are acting as a star for someone else, leading them to find their Savior. Let your light shine, my friends.

Friday night lights. The light of Christ is shining, Epiphany light, yes, on Friday nights, but also on Sunday mornings, and Tuesday afternoons–indeed, every day the light of God’s Word leads sinners to find their Savior, and, having found him, leads them back out into the world where they–where we–will shine for others.

“Circumcision and Name Both Say ‘Savior’” (Luke 2:21)

Today is New Year’s Day, a day for looking forward to the year that lies ahead. It’s a day for plans and goals and New Year’s resolutions. “This is the year, finally, when I will get my weight under control, or when I will start exercising more regularly, or when I start being more faithful in my daily devotions.” All well and good. These can be good goals to have. January 1, 2012. This is also a day when we begin a new chapter in the life of our church. How is this dual-parish thing going to work out? How will we have to adjust to make it work? This is a day, New Year’s Day, for looking ahead to our family’s future. Will we have enough money this year as a family, as a household? Do we need to do better on our budget? And what about our nation? This is an election year, 2012 is. How will the elections affect our future?

Maybe all of these things fill us with fear and trepidation, at what might happen. Maybe they fill us with some degree of hope and optimism, that there could be some improvement ahead. Maybe it’s a mixed bag. The future is always an uncertain thing.

But there is one thing that is certain, no matter the day or the year. And that is, who will see us through the days and years ahead. It is none other than the good God himself, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Our God will see us through. In him we have hope and confidence to face the future, come what may. And now today I want to tell you why you can be sure of his help. It’s based upon what else this day is, besides being New Year’s Day.

Today is the eighth day of Christmas, and therefore it is the day when the church celebrates two events that go together, the circumcision of our Lord and the giving of his name, Jesus. Both of these events happened on the same day, this day, the eighth day, exactly one week after the birth of Christ. Both of these events, the circumcision and the naming, are recorded in the Holy Gospel for today, which is the shortest Gospel reading in the whole series of readings. It’s just one verse, Luke 2:21: “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.” Just one verse, but it speaks volumes. For both Christ’s circumcision and his very name, Jesus, tell us much about who he is–who he is for us. And so our theme today: “Circumcision and Name Both Say ‘Savior.’”

Let’s start with the name. The name given to this baby boy on this day was “Jesus.” But really, the name was given to him months earlier, more than nine months earlier, when he was conceived. The angel Gabriel announced the birth of this child to be born to his mother Mary, and Gabriel told her, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” So this is telling us that not only the child’s birth, his miraculous birth, was arranged by God, but God even picked out his name, Jesus.

Furthermore, the man who would marry Mary, Joseph, who would legally adopt this child by giving him his name–Joseph was likewise told by an angel how to name the baby: “You shall call his name Jesus,” the angel said. Then the angel explained why the child would have that name. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Now to us, maybe it’s not so evident why “saving his people from their sins” would be the reason for naming the child Jesus. But it does make sense if you know the meaning of the name. The name Jesus is a Hebrew name, and in Hebrew it’s “Yeshua,” or, in its full form, “Yehoshua,” “Joshua.” The name Yehoshua literally means “Yahweh saves,” that is, “The Lord saves.” So you see, by giving the child this name, God is also telling us what this child will do, what his mission in life would be. And that is, to be the Savior. The name Jesus literally means “Savior.” His name is also his job description.

Jesus. Savior. But to save, from what? To save the Jews from the Romans, is that why this baby Messiah came? No, he’s got a bigger mission than that. What you and I need saving from, most of all, is from our own sins. “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

Now most people don’t think that that’s their biggest problem. But it is. For your sins are putting you in danger, grave danger, literally. Without someone to save you, your sins would damn you, damn you to death and to hell forever. You need rescuing, and you’re not strong enough to pull yourself out of the death-grip that sin has on you. Someone stronger has to do it. And that someone is the Lord himself. Jesus. “The Lord is Savior,” that’s what his name tells you. It’s this child, God in the flesh, the incarnate Son of God, the one with that sweetest of names, Jesus.

So that’s what the name of this one-week old infant tells you about him, that he is your Savior, the one you absolutely need. But now, how he is going to do this saving work? That’s where the other part of what we’re celebrating on this day comes in, namely, the circumcision of our Lord. Circumcision–obviously, this pertains only to a baby boy. All baby boys born to the Jewish people–all of them were to be circumcised on the eighth day. The practice was started with Abraham, in the covenant that the Lord established with the patriarch Abraham, and it was later codified in the Law of Moses. Eighth day, baby boy, you have him circumcised, it’s part of the Lord’s covenant with his people Israel.

But why? What does this practice signify? That the Lord would choose to establish this particular practice as a sign in Israel is truly significant. That God would need to place a sign just there, in that part of the body, is telling us that the sin passed down from generation to generation from our first father, Adam–that God himself would need to deal with our inherited, Adamic sinful nature. Original sin, the sinful nature from which all of our actual sins spring. The sin that infects our souls and brings death to our bodies. God must cut our sin away, in order for us to be his people. And it would involve the shedding of blood.

And so now we can see what the cutting away of the foreskin foreshadowed. What was circumcision pointing ahead to that would be fulfilled in Christ? What did this ancient practice, given to Abraham, prophesy about Abraham’s ultimate son of promise, Jesus? The circumcision of Christ–what does the first shedding of his blood, on this day, what does it tell us about him and what he’s coming to do? Like with the name, so also with the circumcision. Christ’s circumcision is telling us, “Savior.”

For it is through the shedding of his holy blood that Jesus would live up to his name of “Savior.” He would do the saving through the bleeding. It starts on this day, and it will end at the cross. As he was going to that cross, Christ, come on his saving mission, would sweat drops of blood, in agony, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Then when he is arrested and beaten, flogged with a whip and crowned with thorns, there is more blood. Nailed to the cross, hands and feet, pierced in the side–this Jesus, the Savior–the Son of God sheds his holy blood precisely for people like you and me, sinners. Jesus, the Savior. We, the sinners in need of the saving. And now, by the blood of Jesus, now we are the saved. We are the forgiven, our sins paid for by his holy precious blood. And Jesus gets on this blood-shedding, saving mission right away, even as a baby, eight days old.

Now do you see why we need not fear the future? Because we have a Savior. If Christ is your Savior–and he is–your future, your big future, your eternal future, is absolutely secure. Death, disease, a bad economy, uncertain circumstances–none of that can shake your salvation. If Christ is your Savior–if God cared enough even to pick out his name in advance, just so you could know you that have this Savior–then God will surely care for you, day by day, through all the unpleasant circumstances of this life. You have a Savior who has fulfilled all the Law and the Prophets for you, who came in the flesh for you, who shed his holy blood for you, all the way from his circumcision to the cross, and you know his name.

So today is New Year’s Day, a day for thinking about the future. And your future is bright indeed, dear Christian. For this is also the eighth day, the day of the circumcision and the naming of our Lord. His name is Jesus. It means “Savior.” This Jesus shed his blood for you, starting today at his circumcision. Yes, circumcision and name, when we’re talking about Jesus, both say “Savior.”

“Christ’s Birthday Is Our Birthday, Too” (John 1:1-14)

Whose birthday is it today? Well, that’s a good question. Of course, we’re celebrating the birth of Christ. It’s Christmas, after all. But at the same time, it is through Christmas, through the birth of Christ in the flesh, that other children are born, too–namely, the children of God. That’s us. And so today we’re celebrating the birth of Christ, first and foremost, but also with it, our own birth as God’s children. I can put our message today into one sentence: The Son of God became man, so that the sons of men could become the children of God. Let me repeat that: The Son of God became man, so that the sons of men could become the children of God. Or to put it more simply: “Christ’s Birthday Is Our Birthday, Too.”

You get both here in the Gospel for today from John 1: The birth of Christ in the flesh, and our own birth as children of God. The birth of Christ: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And our own birth: “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.” Let’s now take up both.

First, the birth of Christ. “The Word became flesh,” our text says in verse 14. And that goes back to the first verse of the chapter: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” What is John saying here? When he calls Christ “the Word,” he’s talking about our Lord as the Second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, preexistent, before the creation of the world. True God, “begotten of his Father before all worlds.” “In the beginning was the Word”: This is referring to the divinity of God’s Son. His person distinct from that of the Father: “and the Word was with God.” And yet being of one substance with the Father: “and the Word was God.”

By calling Christ “the Word,” John is saying that Christ is the active agent of Creation. The term “the Word” here is the Greek term “Logos.” “Logos” means “reasoned speech,” “organized thought expressed.” The Greeks thought there had to be some organizing principle holding the universe together. The Hebrews thought of it as the Wisdom of the Lord, giving order to Creation. So to call Christ the Word, the Logos, is to say what the Epistle reading today says: He, Christ, God’s Son, is “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” All of this, then, is wrapped up in the term, “the Word.”

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That’s Christ, the Son of God from eternity. Then verse 14: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That’s Christ, the Son of God come in the flesh at Christmas, born of the virgin Mary. That’s an astounding miracle and a profound mystery, as deep as the mystery of the Trinity. This coming in the flesh of the Son of God is what we call the “Incarnation,” literally, the “enfleshment” of the Son of God. Here we must pause and bend the knee, as we contemplate this truly awesome event. God came in the flesh. The Creator of the universe humbled himself and came born as a little baby, laying aside the full use of his divine glory, in order to dwell among us as our brother.

The Incarnation of Christ. God in the flesh. Or, in a word, Christmas. That is the astounding thing we celebrate today. But why? What does this have to do with us? Everything. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” That means that God came and lived among us, dwelt among us, literally, he “tabernacled” among us. What God was doing when he came among Israel in the tabernacle and the temple, being present in their midst to guide and guard his people and to forgive their sins–this is now what the Son of God is doing, in an even greater way, by coming in our midst and dwelling among us. As the incarnate Savior, the Son of God in the flesh, Christ came to do the ultimate tabernacle job for the whole world.

Do you have sins that need forgiving? Don’t answer that question too quickly or too glibly. Think about it for a moment. Does your conduct measure up to God’s standards of pure love for him and pure love for your neighbor? The Ten Commandments are the measuring stick, and they include every thought, word, and deed that you think, say, or do. Do you have sins that need forgiving? I think so. God’s word says so. And the judgment on your sin is death.

Do you have death that needs undoing? Yes, you do. And that includes the Big Death, too, eternal damnation. How are you going to get out of that? You can’t talk your way out of it. No excuses. That won’t cut it.

So if you’ve got sins that need forgiving, and if you’ve got death staring you in the face, I’ve got good news for you: It’s Christmas! To deal with your sins and undo your death–that’s why Christ came in the flesh. Christmas happened so that you would be saved, saved from your sins, saved from your death. And the only way for that to happen was for the Son of God to take on our flesh.

Only a man could die for man’s sins, if God is to be a just judge. But only God’s death, the death of the sinless Son of God, would be big enough to do the job. That’s why only the incarnation would get the job done. This is why Christmas happened, because God in his great mercy and love willed and knew that Jesus would be the Savior of the world.

So that’s why we celebrate Christmas as the birthday of the Christ. But now, how is it also our birthday? As I say: The Son of God became man, so that the sons of men could become the children of God. This is what John is saying when he 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.”

Friends, when we believe in and are baptized in the name of Christ, we become the children of God. This is the new birth. Our natural birthday did not get us into God’s family. Our new birth does.

You were not born into God’s family because of your human ancestry, because you come from good German Lutheran stock. You were not born into God’s family because you “made your decision for Jesus” at some revivalistic rally, as though you gave birth to you.

No. you were born into God’s family, as our text says, “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” The Holy Spirit was working through the gospel, through Word and Sacrament, to bring you from death to life, to quicken your heart to receive the gift, and to give you the gift of saving faith. The glory all goes to God. If you are a baptized, believing Christian, you have been born of God. Both the birth of Christ as the Savior and your birth, your new birth, as a Christian–it’s all God’s work. To God alone be glory.

We are now the children of God. This is a great family to be a part of. To have God as your Father, to have Christ as your brother, to have the Holy Spirit as the one who keeps you in the faith–this is a great thing. And there’s more. “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared.” That will happen at Christ’s second coming. Then we will rise to meet him, with glorified bodies, to spend eternity in a beautifully restored creation, no more sin or sorrow. Yes, to have God as your Father, Christ as your brother, the Holy Spirit as your helper . . . to have all these brothers and sisters around you in the church, here and around the world, and a whole host of saints in heaven . . . to have forgiveness for your sins, help in living the new life, and to have eternal life waiting ahead of you as your sure hope–what a wonderful thing it is to be the children of God! And it’s all because of what happened at Christmas.

“The Word became flesh and dwelled among us,” and, “to all who believe in his name he gives the right to become the children of God.” And so it is through Christmas, the birth of God’s Son in the flesh, that we come to our own new birth, birth as the children of God. The Son of God became man, so that the sons of men could become the children of God. Christ’s birthday is our birthday, too.

HaiI, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Ris’n with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!”