The Light Shines Out

We saw his star. What would cause and drive these learnéd men to travel hundreds of miles to find the toddler Jesus? There answer is simple: “We saw his star.” But what they say teaches us a very important fact. Our good and gracious Triune God is not afraid to surprise and shock us. He is not afraid to capture our hearts and challenge our minds. The wisemen saw the start and it drove them into God’s word. And then, out of pure joy, it drove them to act. In the words we look at this morning we see the same pattern. Through the apostle Paul, Jesus was capturing the imagination of his people and challenging their minds. In Acts 13, we read: “26 “Fellow children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent. 35 So it is also stated elsewhere: “ ‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ 36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.” (Acts 13:26, 35–37 NIV11-GKE)

In the words we are reading here in the book of Acts, Paul is a guest preacher in a congregation where there are Jewish people and Gentiles. And by God’s Holy Spirit he says something that should have captured their imagination and challenged their minds. He gives to them this dilemma: People thought that King David was the “Holy One.” But how can he be the Holy One if God’s word promised that the Holy One would live on and not see decay? They knew that David had both died and was buried. But yet, in front of them, for centuries was this shocking oddity—like a star in the sky that does not move. The Holy One would not see decay.

The Lord did this to capture their imagination and challenge their minds. But instead, it had the opposite effect. Some of the Jewish people ignored the words because they had no use for them. But there were godly, believing, faithful believers who failed simply because they ran out of energy. There are lots of words in the bible. And it takes real work to read them, ponder them, and process through them. And after a long work day or week, there was little energy left.

Is the same true for us? All throughout God’s word there are these parts of God’s word that capture our imagination and challenge our minds—like a bright light shining in the sky that doesn’t move. And, if we are honest, we have to confess, that, when it comes to reading and studying the bible, there have been times we had a lack of interest. But, more often than that, would it be better to say that what we face is a lack of energy? Years ago, I remember a guy who was became a leader in my church. He worked long hours during the day and he took an instruction class to join our church at night. And every time we met it was the same pattern: about a half an hour into the class, he’d begin to nod off. So, he’d get up and walk from one side of the room to the other to stay awake. As Jesus says, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”” (Mark 14:38 NIV11-GKE)

My fr

Where Does The Law Lead?

Where is this going? Years ago there was a child who was taking piano lessons. The teacher had the child begin by learning scales and memorizing key signatures. And the child was patient for a little while. But then, finally when the work of practicing was actually work, the child told the teacher, “where is this going?” The teacher had the child scoot aside on the bench and then played a beautiful, breathtaking piece the child had never heard before. The child then knew where this was going. And he threw himself at the work in front of him. This morning we look at two of the ten commandments. But we do so with a goal. We ask, “where does the law lead?” And God’s word will answer that question. In Exodus 20, we read: “8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8–11 NIV11-GKE)

In the words we are reading here Moses is with his people at Mt. Sinai. And there, through Moses, the Lord is giving the law to his people. And, as we are taught in catechism class when we are young, the first and foremost task that is getting done when we look at the ten commandments is that these commandments show us our sin. But my dear friends in Christ, that’s only where we begin with these commandments. They lead to an entirely different place.

So, at the foot of Mt. Sinai the Lord‘s people heard these words, that they should find rest in God’s word. But instead, in their hearts what they found was resistance to God’s word in their hearts. For, to them, the sermons that Moses preached hurt their feelings. And they didn’t like that. The bible study classes he taught were too long to them. But has anything changed? Every faithful preacher of God’s word has to deal with people who get angry when Jesus exposes their sin. And even before he gets in the pulpit, he has to deal with his own sin, Jesus poking and prodding his conscience because of his sin. And every faithful teacher deals with people who make time for food for their bodies, but no for food for their souls. There are herds of people who come into church, but hoards of people who rush out of church, not staying to learn and grow in God’s word. We, all of us, are the same as they were. God commands us to find rest in his word, but instead we find resistance in our own hearts.

When we see our sin, our hearts turn to Jesus. And this morning is an amazing example of how Jesus was different than we are. Where does the law lead? In us, the answer is often resistance. But for Jesus the answer was

Jesus Is the Redeemer of Time

Time was my tormentor. When I was growing up we used to visit uncle Ferd and Aunt Leoma. And what I remember most about their house was time. To be more specific, they had this monster-sized Grandfather clock. It would ring so loudly on the quarter hour that everyone had to stop and wait for it to stop before they could continue talking. And at night it was even worse. All us kids had to sleep on the carpet floor in the living room. And every hour, on the hour, the ground would shake and your ears would cry out in pain when it sounded the hour. Time was my tormentor. But I’m not alone. In a different way all throughout all the ages, time has been our tormentor. In John 1, we read: “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1–3 NIV11-GKE)

John starts here in a very fascinating place. He lets us know that at the beginning there was this perfect communication—the word. And this word was more than just words and thoughts. It was God himself. Now then, remember what happened in the Garden of Eden. In that garden everything was pure and perfect. But then that serpentine Satan came along and tempted Adam and Eve to sin. And they listened. From that time on time itself was corrupted. Time became the world’s tormentor. God stood apart from and outside that time. Now, if we put ourselves in God’s shoes for even a moment, it might have been tempting to stay away from this world and the corrupted time in it. But, instead, the opposite happens. We read: “4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:4–11 NIV11-GKE)

In the same way we might want to avoid a long line at the supermarket or the shopping center because of the extreme waste of time waiting, there would have been a temptation to not come down to earth. But that’s what Jesus did. Jesus came to his own. But his own did not receive him. Instead, they rejected him. For about three decades Jesus was growing up as a Jewish carpenter. And the first ones to not believe that he was the Son of God was his own brothers—his own family. He came to his own people, the Jews. And for the most part they liked his fancy miracles, but wanted nothing to do with his teaching. And think of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who demanded that he prove that he was the Christ. And then they plotted to put him to death. And Jesus endured this rejection over decades!

But, as you’re traveling through the bible, looking for those who did not receive him and instead, rejected him, don’t forget to look at your own heart. Each of us has a sinful nature. And time its

There Was Light, But Darkness Came

How did I get here? One of the details about moving to MN that they didn’t tell me is that, when you are in the more rural areas, your GPS device doesn’t always have all the roads on it. And so, it’s easy to get lost. But when the darkness comes, if you’re already lost, it makes it even worse. This evening in our opening reading from God’s word we start out by asking that question: how did we get here? There is darkness in the world around us. But how did we end up here? At the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, it was completely good. But, as we read, in Genesis 3, Satan entered our world and brought darkness with him. And so, if you want to begin to understand why our world is perpetually broken, here in God’s word is where you need to look. Only here do we read how this darkness of sin came. Only here do we read how thoroughly it affected humanity. If we look to our own experience or to popular opinion, we might conclude that our world is only broken…a little, or in the darkness…a little. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the end of WW I. They called it the “war to end all wars.” It was so bad that no one thought it could be followed by another, even worse war. No, the darkness of sin is real out there. And the darkness of sin is real inside of us. But in these words we don’t just here where where this darkness of sin began. We also hear of the one who will bring it to an end. The Lord promises that there would be a “he” would end the Satanic Serpent, but at great cost to himself. He would be the one would bring light into this dark world.

They Needed Light

How bad is it? Whether you have a broken bone or you have cancer, that’s the question you ask. You need a diagnosis as to how bad it actually is. The words we are about to read give us a spiritual diagnosis. The spiritual darkness that is out there in the world and in my heart—how bad is it? In the words we are about to read, we meet two brothers. By the end of the day Cain had murdered Abel. But what drove him to it? Where did that darkness come from? It came from the inside. Cain murdered his brother with his hands. But the spiritual darkness inside of us is so real that we murder others with our hearts. Jesus said that whoever hates his brother is a murderer.1 And yet, in the midst of all that darkness, light was promised. Adam and Eve fixed their eyes on that promise of at “he” who would come like people looking at a light house on a dark and terrifying night.

The Light Was Promised.

To you. Sometimes the best and most beautiful theology is found in the pronouns. About 800 years before Jesus was born the Lord prom

What Is The Real Present?

Somewhere we lost focus. Many years ago there was a bishop over an area of Asia Minor called Palmyra. This bishop became well-known. He became well known because he stood up against the false teacher, Arius at the council of Nicea. He also became well-known because of what he did in his church and in his community. There was a dad with three daughters. He died. And the three daughters would have been sold into slavery. But this bishop and pastor took these daughters in at great cost to himself and his church. This man was Nicolas, Archbishop of Palmyra. What do we know him as today? Santa Klaus. Somewhere we lost focus. That is our trap as humans, for that is our tendency. And there’s nothing new under the sun. Humans thousands of years ago had the same temptation. We see that in our reading for this morning. In Hebrews 10, we read, “1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” (Hebrews 10:1–4 NIV11-GKE)

In the Old Testament God commanded the Jewish people to bring forward offerings. But what happened is their feelings took over their focus. They came to Jerusalem pulling behind them sheep, bulls, and goats. And when they got there they were filled with awe and wonder. They saw the amazing temple and said, this is my temple. Instead of being surrounded by a few worshippers of the Lord, they were surrounded by many. And they said, “this is my people.” And they looked down at that animal and their heart swelled with pride and they thought, “this is my offering.” And the feelings made them lose focus on why they were there. The writer to the Hebrews brings that focus back. Those animals they carried in their arms and pulled behind their backs were not the solution to sin, they were the reminder of sin. They were the promise of the good sacrifice to come, not the sacrifice itself.

They lost their focus because their feelings in their hearts overcame the facts in front of their faces. Isn’t the same true for us? It is ever-so-easy to replace the fact of Christmas with the feelings of Christmas. So what does this look like? We put up red poinsettias and bright lights because it makes us feel right. We eat cookies and cakes because it makes us feel good. We go out and get a tree or bring it up from the basement because that’s what we did when we were children. All of this we do to recapture the feelings of Christmas. Now, before I go any farther, there is nothing wrong with feelings in and of themselves. But when the feelings that surround Christmas cause us to loose focus on Christmas, then it becomes a sin. It becomes a sin in two ways. First, Jesus was not born to make us feel good as if he we

Perfect Love is Powerful Love

What is the perfect way of showing love? Months ago I was watching videos on Youtube. And there was a whole series of videos of wedding proposals gone bad. In one, there was a young man who proposed to his girlfriend in McDonalds. And, I suppose it’s not too surprising to learn, that she did not say, “yes.” If there was an image of perfect love in her eyes, that was not what it looked like. What then is perfect love in God’s eyes?’ That’s where God’s word begins here this evening. In 1 John 4, we read: “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.” (1 John 4:16 CSB17)

Perfect love in God’s eyes means remaining in him. Now, when John says that simple phrase, “remain in love” he means so much more than the bare meaning of the words on the page. Remaining in God is knowing perfectly and completely who God is: his absolute fairness and his absolute forgiveness. And it means holding that complete understanding in our hearts and minds continually. But there’s a problem with that, isn’t there? John tells us what that is: “In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17 CSB17)

God asks us to have perfect love. The enemy of and opposite of perfect love is fear. And the huge source of fear for us all is what John speaks about here: Judgment Day. How am I supposed to love the God who knows that I sin and how much I sin? Fear is the opposite of and enemy of love. But this isn’t just true when it comes to God. It’s also true when it comes to others. How can I show true Christian love towards others when there is real fear in my heart? I am afraid that I’ll mess it up. I’m afraid that, if I reach out and give some caring correction to that person, he or she will hate me. I’m afraid that when I show this perfect love towards another person, if that person knows me at all, he or she will say, “You stop sinning, then you can speak to me about sin.” God calls on us to have a perfect and complete love. But fear drives that out. Fear leads us to conclude that we are doomed on Judgment Day when we face our God and demoralized here as we face those in our every day lives. But look, my friends in Christ at what God says next: “18 There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:18–19 CSB17)

Fear drives out love. But notice what God’s word tells us here: Perfect love drives out fear. And then John makes is clear the sort of love that he is speaking about. God’s love for us is the first love. Here, the word, “first” isn’t just first in time, it’s also first in priority. It’s first and foremost. When we start talking about perfect love, where do we need to start? We cannot start here in our hearts. Instead we need to start there in that child placed in a manger. We cannot start here on ea

This Is Love

Christmas is love. As someone who has to work with words as a calling and profession, ads have always fascinated me. You only have 30 seconds (or less). And you have to artfully and concisely tell your audience what you have and why they should want to buy it. Lately, as I’ve been listening to internet radio channels, the ads let me know that Christmas is all about love. And, if were in doubt as to what love is, the ad tells me. Love is buying that product for the person in my family. If I buy that item, then I love my family. But it does bring up a good question though, doesn’t it? What is love? This Advent we have as our theme: \textsc{Lord Jesus, Come To Us…in your love.} And this evening we see what true love is. In 1 John 4, we read: “7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7–8 NIV11-GKE)

What is love? Here in these words, notice how the sort of love John is speaking about here is a different sort of love than we speak about in english today. We can say, “I love my wife; I love my dog; I love pizza” and use the same word. Here the meaning is much more specific. We are taught at our Seminary to not drag the Greek and Hebrew into our sermons and bludgeon our hearers with those words. Here, however, is a good exception. This is a word worth memorizing. The word is, “agápe”.1 It means, to bring out the best in the one you love. Now, notice how this is a bit different than how we might use the word today. Because if you show this sort of love, you might sometimes even hurt the feelings of the person you are showing love to. A mom with a two-year-old slaps the hand of the child who has just picked up a candy off of the ground. She hurts the child’s feelings. But she does this for his good. She does what is best for him.

That is what love is. But, as John continues with these words, he is very practical. He lets us know that we don’t just have this love as children of God, we also can use this love. We can use this love as a test. How do we know the difference between true preachers of the word and false ones? Do they do what is best? A televangelist asks for your money. But does he visit you in your home and give you the Lord’s Supper when you cannot get to church? It’s a test for those on the outside of these walls. And it’s a test for those on the inside of these walls. Do we love each other enough to speak the truth in love, correcting each other’s sins? Do we love each other enough to speak those precious words of forgiveness even when the hurt is real? What is love? Love has a definition. Love does what is best for that which it loves. But there’s more: “9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he lov

The Messenger Will Come Back

The best stories are the ones you don’t know. One of the great parts about watching a new movie is that you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. Is it a sad story that ends up happy? Is it the opposite? Is it a story that you know the ending to, but you wonder how they get there? In all of these movies what glues them all together are clues and context. This morning we walk through the first part of Malachi 3. And what glues and binds this part of God’s word together is clues and context. So let’s look at them: “See, I am going to send my messenger, and he will clear the way before me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to his temple, the Messenger of the covenant you delight in—see, he is coming,” says the Lord of Armies.” (Malachi 3:1 CSB17)

The Messenger of the covenant will come back. That’s the main fact the Lord tells his people. Who is this? In order to answer that question we have to put together the clue and the context. In the Old Testament the Angel of the Lord—the Messenger of the covenant appears at many important times. And it would take many hours to thoroughly lay out who this is in detail. But let’s take for as an example what we walked through on Thanksgiving Eve. In our sermon on Thanksgiving Eve we heard about a man named Jacob. And all throughout one dark night there was a messenger who wrestled with him. This messenger was from God, but also was God. This messenger was clearly God. But, in a miraculous way, he was also a man. Now, let’s put the clues together. Can you think of anyone who is both God and sent from God—someone who is both God and fully human? This is one of these beautiful parts of God’s word that shows us that Jesus is the Angel of the Lord. And that this Messenger of the Covenant would come back. But the real question for the Old Testament believers was this: were they ready for his return? We read: “2 But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s bleach. 3 He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. 4 And the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will please the Lord as in days of old and years gone by. 5 “I will come to you in judgment, and I will be ready to witness against sorcerers and adulterers; against those who swear falsely; against those who oppress the hired worker, the widow, and the fatherless; and against those who deny justice to the resident alien. They do not fear me,” says the Lord of Armies.” (Malachi 3:2–5 CSB17)

These Old Testament believers yearned for and were excited about this Messenger of the covenant