Sermon, Sunday December 8, 2013

Isaiah 11:1-10,  Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3: 1-12

Brothers and sisters,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The word “hope” is a word that, some might say, has become over-used in the American vernacular. For example, we have all seen it used in connection with political campaigns where politicians try to convince you that electing them would mean great hope for the future. And of course this time of year is no stranger to this talk of “hope”. The days of Advent leading up to Christmas are a time when you might hear the word “hope” used very frequently.

    In fact it has been said that “hope” is perhaps the one characteristic that has always most strikingly distinguished the authentic Christian from their pagan neighbors. Secular or worldly visions of hope are always fickle and subject to daily human circumstances. The politician who promises “hope” could end up being just another crook who’s first loyalties are always to the power-players who got him elected.

    Even this time of year, as filled with hope as it seems, for some will be a time of great sorrow and pain. For some someone near and dear has died and there is an empty place at the dinner table. For some the images of family harmony around a Christmas tree remind them that their lives are not like that at all. And being a Christian does not make you immune to these experiences of great sorrow.

     Each day has it’s share of sorrow and grief because of sin. The struggles you experience do not just come to you from the outside; often they are things of your own creation, resulting from your sin. With every lie you tell. With every curse word out of your mouth; every time you so much as get angry at someone-in all of those you rebel against God. The great shortcoming of worldly human hope is that it relies on humans.

   Worldly hope is only one bad-decision away from becoming sorrow or disillusionment, which sin and the devil try to use to push you away from God. Sin and the devil try to get you to doubt that God is even with you at all. They try to get you to turn away from God and inward to yourself. From this, John the Baptist calls you to repent

     To repent means to turn from yourself, to look at your behavior and feel regret and contrition over how your behavior has offended God and to seek forgiveness. And this is where real Christian hope begins; in repentance. John the Baptist is the prophecied voice in the wilderness chosen by God to prepare the way for Christ Jesus-the One who comes with real Christian hope. And the preparation for the coming of Jesus begins with a call to repentance: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John says.

     With this call to repentance John is giving you a picture of the entire Christian life. The first of Martin Luther’s famous 95 theses said   “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent ' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”  Repentance is a call for you to look beyond all the trivial and superficial elements of this world to true preparation for the coming of the Savior. Repentance is the stripping away of everything that keeps you from Jesus. In our narcicistic society, a call to repentance is pretty much counter-cultural. We are constantly bombarded with false new-age teachers telling us that we find truth, salvation and enlightenment within ourselves. Consequently repentance is something we tend to associate with fanatical street-preachers. Our culture would tell us repentance is oppressive; that it inhibits us from expressing ourselves. But the reality is, repentance is the removal of that which would prevent you from receiving the true and eternal hope that you receive only in Christ: the One who brings you the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Your Lord Jesus wants to protect you from the attacks of the devil. He has claimed you as His own and loves you infinitely. To repent is to turn from the devil who only wants death for you, and to turn to Christ who gave His life that you would have life eternal in His kingdom. So He draws you away from that which would become an obstacle between you and Him.

      The hope that Paul speaks of when he refers to Jesus as the root of Jesse is a hope that transcends this world. It is not a hope that comes from you. It is not a hope that you have to will through positive thinking; it is not a pious sentiment. It is a promise of the righteousness of Christ, the resurrection and eternal life in God’s Kingdom. A call to repent, is a call away from death and to life.

   You see any hope that you fabricate for yourself is always subject to the conditions around you. It can vanish in the blink of an eye. But the hope that Paul speaks of is different. For one thing it’s for everyone. It is not limited to the Jewish Christians but it is for all people thus Paul says that even the gentiles will have hope in Christ. It is a hope that is revealed to you in the Word of God, written for your instruction and encouragement. It’s hope that enables you to move forward in the promise that the hope that you have in Christ Jesus has already transcended the sin and brokenness of this world.

    Your hope is found in the root of Jesse-which is Christ. The title-Root of Jesse-is itself an expression of this very hope that transcends the world. Long after David’s family had been all but wiped out God brings forth from this old dead stump of Jesse a new branch and new hope. In Christ Jesus the promises to the Old Testament patriarchs are fulfilled. It was through the fulfilling of those promises that the gentiles were engrafted into Israel.

    The eternal hope you have in Christ Jesus is a gift the Holy Spirit delivers to you through the Word of Christ. For in the pages of scripture the Holy Spirit assures you of God’s abundant love and care for you. In the Gospel, heard from the mouth of a sinful preacher proclaiming the Word, or administering the sacraments, the God Who created you re-affirms to you the promise made to you over the waters of baptism, that He is the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods; and that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    I am sure most of you are aware that Nelson Mandela died this week. For countless people in South Africa and all over the world, he was a symbol of great hope. But he was also a sinner. In the early 1960s he joined the African National Congress, when it was what can only be described as a terrorist organization. This is not to be-smirch his good name. He is seen as a hero by the people of South Africa for good reason, just as George Washington is seen as a hero by us. But if Washington’s efforts had failed he would have likely been hung as a traitor and history would likely remember him as a terrorist. What we called revolution, the British called treason. 

   Human history must be looked at with a courageous honesty that recognizes even those we lift up as heroes have morally complicated backgrounds. Of course they do, because like every one of you they are sinners. Everything humans do is stained by sin. Through Nelson Mandela, much great work was done, and for that we should rejoice and praise God. People in South Africa were freed from apartheid largely through his efforts. But all the people in South Africa and all over the world are still in bondage to sin. Nelson Mandela freed nobody from death. No human hero can save you from death; thus the hope they symbolize is ultimately only temporary.

    You see, now that Mandela’s earthly journey has finished, what matters to him is not his efforts to fight oppression, nor his nobel peace prize. That was all left behind. What matters now is that, when he was very young, in a Methodist Church, he was claimed by Christ Jesus against the forces of sin and the devil in the waters of baptism. It is only in Christ that you have eternal hope. Only Christ Jesus brings you a hope that overcomes even the darkest of times.

    There is no question. It is done. It’s an accomplished feat. Christ Jesus entered this dark and stormy world to give His life for your sins. The risen Lord Jesus comes to you today bringing you new life in the midst of the sin and brokenness of this world. The root of Jesse springs forth in your lives. He is your hope-for comfort in grief, for harmony in brokenness, for forgiveness of sin.

    This hope opens you up to welcome and love one another so that together you abound in hope. Christ is the hope of all people so He calls you to welcome and embrace all people. And so abound in this hope!! It is real and it is for you. And it points you forward to a day beyond this dark world when all will be made new and there will be no tears or pain. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard with the young goat, the cow and the bear and the calf and the lion will all lie down together. It will even be safe for a nursing child to play with a cobra. Sin, the devil and this world will try to convince you this hope is not real, but it is real and it is your’s in Christ alone. It is free for the taking and it is a priceless treasure drawn from God’s redeeming and abounding love. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and by the power of the Holy Spirit may you abound in hope!

Amen

                    

Sermon, Sunday Dec. 1, 2013

Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13: 8-14, Matthew 24: 36-44

Brothers and sisters,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone which means we can no longer complain about seeing Christmas decorations on houses or in stores or on the street. Many of you will soon start getting ready for Christmas as you make travel plans, cook all kinds of food, and of course go shopping. And on this first Sunday in Advent your Lord Jesus declares a word of warning to make sure that you are ready for His coming not 2000 years ago but when He returns in glory. Your Lord Jesus warns you to  stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.  

       He is not talking about Christmas, though many of you would probably say that you were not ready for Christmas. Plans need to be made. Shopping needs to be done. But even after doing all that will you truly be ready for Christmas? For that matter are you ready for Jesus throughout the year? Do you come here with an open heart and mind and a repentant spirit, yearning to hear a Word from Christ and hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or are you content with simply going through the motions every Sunday but not really giving any thought to Christ Jesus or His church during the week?  Christ Jesus comes to you this time of year, the same way He always does; in Word and sacrament. But do you come to worship to hear a divine Word of hope and the promise of the forgiveness of your sins in Christ Jesus or do you just put in your time? Do you come to receive the blessed gift of the body and blood of Christ Jesus in the Lord’s Supper or is it merely a ritual to you?

    And what about the day that Jesus tells you to stay awake for? Would you say that you are ready for the day of the Lord? Are you ready to meet Christ Jesus when He returns at the end of time? Most of you would probably say you are. Most of you would probably be perfectly content with your readiness for the day of the Lord. And if you come to worship with an open heart and mind and a repentant spirit hungering and thirsting for righteousness and ears to hear then you likely are. But if you do not then will you be truly ready to stand before the Lord on the day of judgment?

    In the Gospel lesson Jesus warns that the coming of the Son of Man will be “…as were the days of Noah.” He is speaking of the people who did not believe Noah’s warnings, who did not take Noah seriously, and were instead focused on themselves and their own instant gratification. So when the flood came they were unaware and the flood swept them all away. Their real problem was not their wickedness but their spiritual indifference.

   I saw an article on Friday about Ron Reagan; son of the late President Ronald Reagan. In this article Ron Reagan declared himself to be an atheist and said that he was not afraid of burning in hell. Well this is the very picture of spiritual indifference. Just as those people who lived during Noah’s time were not afraid of God’s wrath of the flood, Ron Reagan is not afraid of God’s wrath of eternal torment. But what he and many others fail to realize is that hell is filled with people who were not afraid of it. And you need not be an atheist to be caught up in spiritual indifference. There are people who, if asked, would profess themselves to be Christians who are spiritually indifferent.

     Simply calling yourself a Christian does not make you immune from the attacks and temptations of the devil. The devil is all around, planting seeds of doubt, unbelief and spiritual indifference. And so this morning St Paul gives you a word of warning telling you that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep and that salvation is nearer to you now than when we first believed. I cannot tell you on which day the Lord Jesus will return, but I can tell you that we are one day closer to that day than we were yesterday; one month closer to that day than we were on Halloween and one year closer to that day than we were on the first Sunday in Advent last year.

    Paul says the hour has come for you wake from sleep. There is actually a genetic condition that affects the way a person reacts to sunlight.  In other words, being a morning person is a real thing. A true-blue morning person has a natural sleep-cycle that depends on a bright light source arriving at the proper time. If the person does not receive the light cue during the early morning hours they may feel just as groggy as a night-owl forced to wake up too early. Well St Paul tells us in the epistle lesson that as believers we are morning people.

    As a believer you have been woken up. The Light of Christ Jesus has broken through and woke you from the darkness of your spiritual slumber and indifference. But the day of our Lord has not arrived. The devil is still around and you still daily do battle with the devil and your inherent love for spiritual darkness. The devil would love to lull you back into a deep state of spiritual sleep and to convince you that burning in hell is not something that you need to fear. The devil would love to deceive you with the lie that all paths go to heaven; the lie that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe sincerely. The devil would love for you to be spiritually indifferent.

   Martin Luther describes the contrast between the spiritually dead and the spiritually alive in this way: He says “The ungodly individual sleeps. He is in a sense dead in the sight of God. He does not recognize-is not sensitive to-the real spiritual blessings extended him through the Gospel; he regards them as valueless. For these blessings are only to be recognized by the believing heart; they are concealed from the natural man. The ungodly individual is occupied with temporal, transitory things, such as luxury and honor, which are to eternal life and joy as dream images are to flesh and blood creatures.”

     All those things that we by default love and desire; money, power, status, prestige; all those possessions of our neighbors that we covet; all of it is-in the grand scheme of things-like images in a dream. When Christ Jesus returns, your love for spiritual darkness will be no more and you will be fully and completely woken from your spiritual slumber. All of those earthly and temporal things will be exposed by the same eternal and glorious light that will shine your pathway from the grave and you will see them as the truly fleeting things that they are; like images in a dream.

    And so as you continue to struggle and toil in this dark world and endure the attacks of sin and the devil, our Lord calls you to continue looking forward to the day of the Lord; like Judah heeding the call of Isaiah in the Old Testament lesson may you keep looking ahead to THE latter day when Christ returns and all things will be made new. Isaiah’s message to the people of Judah is simple and just as relevant today for you as it was for the people of Judah in Isaiah’s day; and the message is “Walk in the promise of the Light of the Lord during these dark days; the latter days will come.” And those days did come.  

    Those latter days began some 700 years after Isaiah wrote those words down, when Jesus-the Light of the world came down to earth from Heaven above. When Jesus was born the angels sang “Peace on earth” and so peace came, as Isaiah declared,  people streamed from all over, as Isaiah said they would,  to listen to Jesus when He gave the sermon on the mount.

   And Jesus entered the dark times for you. He entered the despair of this fallen world for you. Jesus went to the cross, and on the cross He took all of your sin upon Himself, all of your idolatry, all of the greed and selfishness that you see so much this time of year; much of which could be seen on Black Friday. He took your injustice and hatred and jealousies. He took whatever you do to cause the spiritual darkness of this world and He died for it. And He was placed in a tomb with a stone rolled in front of it and surrounded by the darkness of sin and death. But three days later that tomb was empty and the darkness was shattered, Jesus came walking out and the promise made by God through Isaiah was kept. The call to walk in the light of the Lord is simply the call to walk in the light of Christ.

     And so today people around the world worship Jesus, as Isaiah said they would. On any continent, people attend Sunday services to listen to God’s Word. Preaching and Bible-studies are carried out in hundreds of different languages and people want to do what is right. When you come up and partake of the Lord’s Supper and receive the body and blood of Christ Jesus, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled.

     Of course we still wait. We are in the latter days, but THE latter day of the Lord when Christ returns has not yet arrived. We still wait for Isaiah’s prophecy to come true in all of it’s fullness. We wait for all nations to worship Jesus without competition or persecution. We wait for swords to become plows, for war to become the time to feed the hungry. We wait for the Last day when Isaiah’s prophecy will be completely fulfilled when Jesus returns in all power and glory. But in the meantime, the dark times in which we find ourselves call for us to walk in the light. And so we walk in the light of the empty tomb which promises you that our Lord keeps His promises. So come and worship. Come to the Lord’s table. Come and hear His Gospel. Come and find peace for the depths of your soul when you hear of Jesus’ glorious resurrection. Come to the light of Christ Jesus because dark times call you to walk in the light of the Lord Jesus.

Amen