In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

For most of you here today I’m going to need you to think WAY back… to when you first began dating a new person... How did you act? How would you act on a first date? Probably some version of your best behaviour, at least some version of what you think they’ll like, what they would think is cool. 

This is what we do in the world. We want people to think well of us. We want them to think the best of us because we love ourselves. Though some would say that if we change ourselves so superficially for someone else, then we really don’t love ourselves. Either way, in our sin we are afraid of judgement, afraid of rejection. And loving ourselves we want them to like us, so we change ourselves into some version we think they will like more than who we actually are. And would that we loved others in the same way we love ourselves, wanting to think the best of them just as we want others to think the best of us! Not requiring them to change who they are for us, and assuming the best of their actions rather than the worst. 

But on some level isn’t the way we date, or even the way we approach anyone new in our lives, all just a game of bait and switch? Isn’t it lying? Deception? Putting forward a picture of a self that doesn’t actually exist? For you are not all you should be or could be. And love that is real love must confront even the warts and wrinkles you have, and either put up with them, or even delights in, or cover them over with its loving care. For love covers a multitude of sins. And so real love goes beyond the makeup and the make believe and the best behaviour. It goes beyond the superficial, and the control top panty hose, the slimming girdles, the push-up bras, the bravado, and put-on charm, and all the short lived changes in how clean your car is, or how well you dress. 

Real love that leads to the blessings of marriage must accept the other person, warts and all. There are many things about you and me that ought to change, that need to change. Bad habits. Sinful practices. Selfish ways. Things we must repent of. But love goes beyond the superficial coverings we throw over our bad habits. Love uncovers these things. Love accepts them. And by love you are inspired to be better than you are on account of the one who loves you. 

For love is the opposite of our world. Our world teaches us how to date, how to search for “love,” how to act. Our world, which is firmly in the grips of Satan, says, “Lie. Don’t be yourself. Cover up. Hide your faults. No one will love you. No one will accept you if they know your true nature. If they know what you’ve done...” And our world says these things for good reason. For when you have been honest, when you have revealed your true self, warts and all, people have been cruel to you. They have rejected you. They have trampled you down, trod upon your heart, and crushed you into the earth. And so you learn to be false. To put on a brave face, a fake face. To play make-believe. Because our world doesn’t really want the real you. They want a fake you. One who doesn’t exist. One who can’t exist because of sin in each of us.

Even in the throwing of weddings in our Lord’s day it was the same. Put your best foot forward. Make your best impression. Serve the best wine you can afford first. Make everyone think you are wealthy and gracious. And then just as soon as they are deep in their cup, pull out the bad stuff, the inferior stuff, the watered down stuff, the stuff that has just enough alcohol in it to keep the party going. 

But Our Lord does things the opposite of the world. He serves the best wine last. And this ultimately refers to the Old and New Testaments. This is opposite of every instinct in our world. Even in the aging and quality of wine no one wants to drink the newer vintage first. You want to drink the older stuff, the aged stuff, the fine stuff before you have to suffer the new, unaged, low-quality wine. 

But with our God the more deeply you have drunk of the Old Testament with its laws and demands of you, the more deeply you will only crave the new wine of His New Testament for His new wine is better than the old. His new wine is the wine of pardon, grace, forgiveness, salvation. A wine that covers your faults, your shames, your disasters with His grace, mercy, forgiveness and peace. 

Whereas in the world we don’t save the best for last. We pull a bait and switch. Putting our best foot forward, even though the rest of us isn’t as good. It seems good enough for the world, for that is the way of the world. The world is a broken place. But it’s not good enough for Jesus. He does all things well saving His best for last. Even fixing your brokenness with His wine of pardon. 

His first covenant, the old one, was inferior to the new one which delivers His salvation freely without any merit or worthiness in you. This flies in the face of our instincts which insist that we have to earn by work or by cunning. He gives out grace when we would give out judgement. He supplies your needs when we would cut someone off and leave them to fend for themselves. 

Now all of this happened on the third day. Which is another way our Lord flies in the face of the world. People in this world die and stay dead. But not our Lord. The third day after His death He rose, defeating this world, defeating death, putting to shame this world and its ways. Disproving it. Beating it. 

Now this wedding occurred three days after the last event recorded in the Gospel of John. Which means this is actually the sixth day of narrative in the Gospel. And what happened in Bible on the sixth day? Three things: on the sixth day of Creation man was created; on the sixth day of Creation marriage was created; on the sixth day of Holy Week our Lord died for the sins of man. And on that day of His death a spear was shoved into His side to see if He was truly dead, and blood and water flowed out of Him. 

But on this sixth day of John’s Gospel, at this wedding, six stone pots for ritual washing were filled with water at the Lord’s command. At His command the water was drawn out to be drunk. But at His command the water had become wine. The water turned wine had become a blessing of joy and celebration to this bankrupt wedding. Just as the water of Baptism and wine of His Supper wash us from our sins, giving us the joy of His eternal union to His bride the Church. And this water and wine connect us to His sixth day, to His death. They wash us and restore us to the perfection, purity and bliss of our sixth day when mankind was created in innocence and holiness, and given the blessing of marital union between man and woman. 

And through this blood and water which flowed from our Lord’s side He makes for Himself a new Woman. A purified, holy bride for Himself. The Holy Christian Church. His beloved wife. Cleansed by Him. Declared holy on account of His own saving action on Her behalf. A new Eve through whom the saviour is born into the world. This is why our Lord calls His mother “Woman”. It seems so cold to us. But it is the same name that Adam first gave to Eve, and it was one of her sons who would save mankind from their sin. And here was this woman, whose son was the Saviour. Here on this sixth day, the Saviour saves the wedding, showing Himself the Saviour of mankind, one who saves not by might nor power, not by the ways of the world, but lovingly sacrificing Himself for His beloved. For you. 

In +Jesus’ name, Amen.  

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  

The Star appeared. The wisemen of the nations came. (Matt. 2:1) They brought with them the wealth of the East: kingly gold, priestly incense, myrrh for embalming. (Matt. 2:11) They came to bow before a baby wrapped in swaddling bands. (Matt. 2:2) They reverenced He whom they named King of the Jews. A King, not a priest, yet they brought Him incense. Incense which burns in the presence of God both in the old earthly temple and in that temple above not made by hands. Except there, it is not aromatic resins burnt to produce mystical smoke that fill the temple, but the prayers of the saints which arise before the Almighty as the sweet aroma in His nostrils. (Rev. 8:4; Ps. 141:2) For this King is a Priest who intercedes for you—prays for you. (Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:24) But not a priest of the old order. (Heb. 7:11-14) Not born of the old priestly line, of Moses’ brother Aaron, of the tribe of Levi. Not a priest according to the Old Covenant. He is born of the kingly line, of David, out of the tribe of Judah. (Matt. 2:6) He is born of the tribe which the promise of the Messiah, the one anointed to save His people, had been given to. (Matt. 2:6; Mic. 5:2) This King of the Jews is that Messiah. He is a priest whose life shall be expended as a prayer that God our Father hears on behalf of sinful mankind. That is why these non-Jews, to whom the promises of the Old Covenant were not given, also brought myrrh, the embalming spice, the calming, soothing perfume. For this King’s death will be a prayer to God not merely for Jews but for those wisemen too, and all who fall before Him asking for His mercy. (Rom. 10:13)

The Star betokened this. It appeared. It made known, manifested, epiphanied the Christ. It was shepherds in fields who had worshiped Him first. (Luke 2:8-20) Good Jewish folk, earning a living with their hands. They knelt before Him and praised Him who comes to Shepherd His people. Shepherds who would have birthed and wrapped lambs in such a way in order to keep them pure and unblemished if such lambs were intended for the Passover sacrifice. And they told all the surrounding countryside (Luke 2:20), so that even Jerusalem heard of this miracle told by the angels of a mummy in a manger. A baby swaddled the way any baby in those days was. In loose bands of cloth—so that the beginning of life in mid-east parallels the end of life there. Beginning and ending wrapped, swaddled in bands of cloth, but at the end those clothes are soaked in myrrh if you can afford it. That’s where the Wise Men come in. Their gifts proclaim Him to be king of Jews. Their gifts enrich Him and ready Him for death. So that at both the beginning of His life and the end of His life He is declared King of the Jews. At the beginning by eastern sages, at the end by a Roman governor, with a death notice at the top of His cross. (John 19:19) Gentiles both, in fearful symmetry, doing reverence to Him by naming Him what He is.

The mummy in a manger. Worshiped by eastern sages, declared by agents of the Roman Emperor, bringing to Him the wealth of the nations. And by so doing declaring Him to the world as God the Son’s royal prayer to His Father that saves you by His death. 

And that is how this baby becomes food for you: by death; by His hanging on a cross which declared Him the King of the Jews; a cruel and painful throne; His blood was spilt for your drinking and His body prepared for your eating; by altars like this where He comes enthroned and lifted up by we who here praise Him, kneel before Him, and reverence Him; that body and blood first lifted on a cross are given as food so that he or she who eats it in faith may have life, life to the full. Life through this mummy in the manger. 

The star appeared. (Matt. 2:2) The star made it known. (Ps. 19:1-4) The star which could be seen by all the earth led them to Him. God does not usually work this way. This was a one off. Despite the fact that you may feel close to God in nature, nature does not reveal God to you! It didn’t even reveal God to the Wise Men. Nature led them to ponder God. Just as nature’s majesty leads our hearts and minds to ponder God’s brilliant design in all things (Rom. 1:19-20), leading us to inquire of Him, but where do we find Him? Those Wise Men went to the source: not to Jerusalem, but the Scriptures. (Matt. 2:4-6)

For if you wish to draw close to the true God, who came as a mummy in a manger to feed you the bread of life, you will not find Him in nature, but only in God’s Holy Word. (John 1:1, 14) That is where the Wise Men looked. That is where even wicked King Herod had to turn in order to search out the child to destroy Him: God’s Word. It is the revealer of all things, laying bare the state of your heart, your need for God, the emptiness within of worshipping nature, or the work of your hands, or your own efforts to be wise. For none of it matters in the end. ‘“Meaningless, meaningless!” says the teacher.’ (Eccl. 1:2) God’s Word reveals human wisdom as the shallow sham that it is. It shows our need for a saviour. It shows our need for a saviour,. For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Prov. 9:10) Fear inspired by knowledge of your sin before your All Wise Creator, who in wisdom sent His Passover Lamb to passover your sin. (John 1:29)

The Star appeared leading the Wise Men to the Christ child. But God’s Word appeared in the flesh (John 1:14) letting them do reverence to Him, placing their faith in Him, leading you and me to Himself, giving Himself to mankind so that your hands can touch God, your mouth can taste Him and your eyes can see Him and know that He is good. (Ps. 34:8) This makes no human sense. A God born in the weakness of flesh? The Infinite being encapsulated in what is so finite? The All Powerful, Almighty helpless as a newborn? The All Wise, All Knowing One having to learn everything according to the flesh as a baby boy? Ridiculous! 

And yet the Magi, the Wise Men of Persia—those who were considered the fathers and teachers of the Ancient Greek Philosophers, Greece who taught Rome who imparted to the West our great traditions of wisdom and scientific progress—these men come and bow before this illogical God. This God who comes to His people in weakness, allowing Himself to be ignored, rejected. A God who teaches us to be shrewd like serpents, but meek as doves. (Matt. 10:16) A God who allows Himself to be killed so that He might save you by His death and become the Eternal Interceder with His Father on your behalf. 

This is the God who shepherds His people by His preached Word, by His shed blood received with His promise here, and by water and His Word poured on the heads of infants and old, wise and foolish alike! 

This epiphany, let the Star lead you back to the mummy in the manger so that God’s Word might go with you all the year as you receive Him regularly in His Holy Supper. 

In +Jesus’ name, Amen.  

Blessed Epiphany!

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Today behold anew a wondrous mystery! Let your ears be filled with the Shepherd’s song echoing abroad. (Luke 2:16-18) Not the mere mouthings of bashful working men, but the full throated chanting of the heavenly hymn. For it is the Angel’s song filling creation this day. (Luke 2:13-14) It is the Archangels themselves who harmonize. It is the Cherubim who hymn their joyful praise and the Seraphim who exalt His glory. All heaven joins to praise this holy feast, this mystery, of the Godhead here on earth, and a Man in heaven. He Who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and He that was lowly is by divine mercy lifted up. 

At His birth little Bethlehem resembles heaven; the star spangled skies ringing with angelic voices; and in place of the sun, Him who fills every point of creation, the Sun of Justice. But ask not how: for where God wills it, the order of nature yields. For He willed; He had the power; so He descended; He redeemed; all things yielded in obedience to God.This day He Who Is (Exod. 3:14), is Born; and He Who Is, becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. (Phil. 2:5-8) Nor did He become man by any loss of His Godhood (John 1:1-3), nor did some mere man increase by becoming God; but being the Word He became flesh (John 1:14), His unalterable nature, remaining unchanged. 

And so the kings too have come (Matt. 2:1-2, 9-11; Ps. 2:10-12; 72:10-11), and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominions, nor Powers, nor Principalities, nor any of the host of heaven which are by right His honour guard, but, instead they see Him treading a new and solitary path. He has come forth from a virgin womb. (Luke 1:34; Matt. 1:20-25)

Since His heavenly begotten-ness of the Father cannot be described, neither does His coming amongst us in these days permit too close or curious a scrutiny. Though I know that a Virgin this day gave birth, and I believe that God was begotten before all time, yet the manner of His human conception and birth we must learn to venerate in silence, not saying too much. We must accept that this mystery is not to be probed too curiously with wordy speech. 

For with God we look not for the natural order of the universe, but we rest our faith in the power of Him who works. 

So what then shall I say to you? What shall I tell you? We behold a Mother who has brought forth; we see a Child come into this world by birth. (John 1:14) But the very manner of His conception I cannot comprehend nor explain. 

For in this case, Nature rested, while the Will of God labored. (Luke 1:35) What inexpressible grace! The Only Begotten, Who is before all ages, Who cannot be touched or be perceived, Who is simple, being without a body, has now put on my body, my flesh, which is visible and liable to corruption. For what reason? That coming amongst us He may teach us, and in teaching lead us by the hand to the things that men cannot see. For since we men believe that the eyes are more trustworthy than the ears, we doubt whatever we do not see. Therefore, He has condescended to become far less than what is dignified of the Creator and shown Himself in bodily presence, that He may remove all doubt in us. (2 Cor. 5:7)

Thus, Christ, finding the holy body and soul of the Virgin, built there for Himself a living temple (Ps. 139:13; John 2:21; 1 Cor. 3:16) in which to dwell, and as He had willed, He formed there a man from the Virgin; and, clothing Himself in that flesh, this day He came forth (Ps. 2:7); unashamed of the lowliness of our nature. (Phil. 2:8)

For to Him it was no lowering to put on what He Himself had made. By this He causes His handiwork, which became the cloak of its own Creator, to be forever glorified! For just as the First Adam’s body could not be made till the clay had come into the Maker’s hand (Gen. 2:7), so neither could our corruptible human bodies be glorified, until it had first become the garment of its Maker. (Phil. 2:6-9)

So what shall I say! And how shall I describe this Birth to you? For this wonder fills me with astonishment. The Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9) has become an infant. He Who sits upon the sublime and heavenly Throne, now lies in a manger. And He Who cannot be touched, Who is simple, a Spirit, without complexity, and incorporeal, now lies as an infant touchable by the hands of men. He Who has broken the bonds of sinners, is now bound by an infants’ swaddling bands. By His incarnation He has decreed that dishonour shall become honour, that disrepute be clothed with glory, and total humiliation is the measure of His Goodness.

For this purpose He took into Himself my body, my humanity, that I may become capable of containing His Word; taking my flesh, He gives me His spirit (Tit. 3:5-6); and so He bestowing and I receiving, He prepares for me the treasure of Life. He takes my flesh, to sanctify me; He gives me His Spirit, that He may save me. (Tit. 3:5-7)

Come, then, let us observe the Feast. For truly wondrous is the whole chronicle of the Nativity. For this day the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, error driven out, truth has been brought back, the speech of kindliness poured forth and spreads on every side, a heavenly way of life has been implanted on the earth, angels communicate with men without fear, and men now speak with angels. 

Why is this? Because God is now on earth, and a Man in heaven; on every side all things have gotten mixed together. He became Flesh. He did not become God. He was God. Why did He become flesh? So that He Whom heaven could not contain, a manger would this day hold. He was placed in a manger, so that He, by whom all things are nourished, may receive an infant’s food from His Virgin Mother. So, the Father of all ages, as an infant at the breast, nestles in the virginal arms, so that the Magi may more easily see Him. This day too the Magi have come, and made a beginning of withstanding tyranny; and the heavens give glory, as the Lord is revealed by a star. (Matt. 2:2)

To Him, then, Who out of confusion has wrought a clear path, to Christ, to the Father, and to the Holy Ghost, we offer all praise, now and for ever. Amen.

In +Jesus’ name, Amen.  

-based on St. John Chrysostom's "Homily on Christmas Morning" (347-407)

original found at: http://glory2godforallthings.com/2008/12/23/st-john-chrysostoms-christmas-homily/, accessed December 20, 2018.  

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  

In Bethlehem, which means house of bread, our Saviour was born. (Luke 2:4-6) It was an agriculturally rich area, which fed the surrounding regions. With His birth it became a spiritual bread basket which would feed the world. He was laid in a manger. (Luke 2:7) A food trough. Such troughs in that area were made of stone. He was laid out on a slab. An infant teaming with life whose clothe wrapped body foreshadowed His life’s purpose: to be wrapped in cloth and laid on a stone cold slab for the sins of the world. 

His birth came to fulfilment in His death. (Luke 2:7; 23:52-53) But His death is life for you! His rest in the stone tomb, where His body was laid, is your rest. For when this living baby died, He completed perfection. (John 19:30) All things had been done right by Him. (John 19:4, 6; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Pet. 2:22) Perfection. Even in death. His was a righteous death. A life-giving death. A perfect death for you and for me. He was a man whose life emanated life. For He was love in the flesh. Not the kind of “love” which judges your flesh as “hot or not”. Not a calculating love which sees your flaws, your failings as too much baggage to bother with. His is Love which sees all. Love which knows all. (1 Cor. 13:6, 12) Love which covers all. (1 Cor. 13:7; 1 Pet. 4:8) 

This wrapped up baby was laid out stone cold on a slab to pay the debt you owe. Not a debt to Satan. Not to yourself. Not to the world. A debt you owe to God. For not loving. Love is the essence of God’s Law. (Matt. 22:37-40; Gal. 5:14; Rom. 13:10) Those rights and wrongs, dos and do nots are sacrifices you make to love God and your fellow man. Love is sacrifice. The sacrifice of your self. (John 15:13; Eph. 5:25) The sacrifice of your selfish self-love.  

He completed love. He did the Law. (Mat. 5:17; Rom. 10:4) He loved to the full. His innocent death is your life. It is your promise of peace. Peace on earth. (Luke 2:14) Peace with God. Peace in your heart. (John 20:19-23) For that baby laid on the stone cold slab lives. He rose. (John 20:1-18) He conquered death. His love is indestructable. (Heb. 7:15-17) Though His body died, He did not. (1 Cor. 15:45) His flesh is life-giving. He gives it to you. He lays it out on stone slabs. On altars of stone or wood which deal in death and sacrifice. Slabs made for slices and stabs. 

But this Baby who reversed death, this God who takes on flesh, the Infinite who becomes finite turns altars upside down. His altars no longer deal in death but life. For the sacrifice was made. (Rom. 6:10; Heb 7:27; 10:10) The price is paid. Your sins are gone. His altar slab gives that death which brought life. 

Eat of this Table, sidle up to this feeding trough and you will live. It will kill you, just as it killed Him. (Rom. 6:3-4; Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6) It will kill you to yourself. (Rom. 6:11; Gal. 2:19) Kill you to your self-love. Kill you to your self-loathing. Kill you to your need to justify your own existence. For this slab of stone or wood on which that baby is laid out in His Supper gives you new life. A life dead to you, alive to Him. 

And who came to see? Sheep and shepherds. (Luke 2:12, 15-16) But it wasn’t the sheep who ate. It was the sheep-herders. They went out filled. Filled to overflowing. (Luke 2:17-18, 20) Joy bubbled up within them. It poured forth from their mouths. (Luke 2:18) Peace was theirs. (Luke 2:14) Good will from God was on earth. A baby laid on a stone fed their souls.  

That same baby, God in our flesh, feeds your soul. Not just in a mystical spiritual way. But in a physical way. (Matt. 26:26-28) You are not just a spirit. You are a body. God is not just a spirit. God has a body, born of the Virgin Mary. His body feeds you. Not just spiritually. The baby on the stone slab. The flesh on the altar. The wine of life is God’s new deal. His new covenant. (Matt. 26:28) That is the Christian faith. A meal. A food. A baby for you. Not cuteness and cuddles. Life in flesh. Life for you. 

Not this life. Not these illusions you cling to. A new life. A different life. A life hidden in God. A life of eating God. A life fed by God. This is mysterious. But to the Christian—not just the person who was once baptized, the Christian who clings to the gift given in baptism—this is life. Feasting on that baby. The rest works itself out. Your daily cares and struggles, they are now His. For He is in you and you are in Him. (John 6:56) You belong to Him. (1 Cor. 6:19-20) He watches over you. His cares are your cares, and your cares are His. He feeds you. (Ps. 23:5) You overflow with Him. 

That’s what happened to the shepherds. They saw the glorious angels. (Luke 2:8-9, 13) They saw the more glorious Son. (Luke 2:16) Seeing they became angelic messengers to all who would hear. (Luke 2:17-18) I pray that happens to you. That you would wonder at, treasure up, and ponder Him in your heart and mind (Luke 2:19), eating Him into your flesh, so that you overflow with Him—tonight, tomorrow, and all yours days. 

In +Jesus’ name, Amen.  

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

The Father planned long before the foundation of the world for His Son to take on our flesh. (Eph. 1:3-6) He who does nothing without revealing it to His prophets (Amos 3:7) so that they can proclaim it abroad so that He will not be without testimony of His righteous actions to save. He has let it be known for long ages. The prophets have foretold the Father’s gracious plan that a virgin would conceive against all the laws of nature and her son would be called Immanuel—God who is with us. (Isa. 7:14) For her Son would be God. And that Son would be the Wonderful (Isa. 9:6; Jdg. 13:18), the Counsellor of all earth (Isa. 9:6; 28:29), for He is the Mighty God, sent by the Everlasting Father to be our Prince of Peace, to rule us not in just recompense for our sin, but in His righteous acts to save His wayward subjects. 

This Son of God would be born of from the shattered stump of King David’s line. (Jer. 23:5) A new and unexpected Branch, rising up from that ancient stump of Jesse (Isa. 11:1) to be raised up and rise up in Nazareth—a new town in the days of our Lord, whose name means branch. The town from whence the Righteous Branch of David arises (Jer. 23:5) in Galilee of the Gentiles. (Isa. 9:1) Galilee, the land covered in darkness of sin and unbelief. (Isa. 9:1-2) But this Branch is righteous (Jer. 23:5) unlike the descendants of David who caused His family tree to be chopped down to the ground. (Isa. 11:1) He is the new tree of righteousness. The new tree of life (Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:14) in which all the nations of the world will be housed and find refuge in it’s branches (Eze. 17:22-24) and even grafted (Rom. 11:19ff) into the vine of righteousness. (John 15:1-5; Ps. 80:8-11, 14-17) For this is the purpose of this King. He is a mighty king to save His fallen creatures. To give them shelter and refuge in His branches. A rod rising up from Jesse to rule over the nations in the righteousness of the saving God. (Jer. 23:5; Isa. 11:1, 10-11)

His coming forth is from ancient days (Mic. 5:2) for He is the Mighty God (Isa. 9:6), the Ancient of Days. (Dan. 7:9) He is without beginning or end. He is the one who was the original ruler of Israel for God was Israel’s king. (1 Sam. 8:17; 10:19; 12:12) Long before they cried out for a king (1 Sam. 10:19) God was their ruler. Their protector. And King David born of little Bethlehem—which means house of bread—was merely a foreshadowing of this eternal king of Israel. (Mic. 5:2) Of those who wrestle with God. (Gen. 32:28) Who cling to Him in faith. Who are clung to by God so they are given supernatural strength to cling to God long after their own strength is spent. So that in clinging to God they overcome both men and God. (Gen. 32:28) For that is what the King of Israel does: He clings to you. He causes you to cling to Him in faith. This is how He rules you. By clinging to you. Not letting you out of the shadow of His wings. (Mal. 4:2; Ps. 91:4) Even though you wander. Even though you walk into dens of lions, pits of vipers - hideouts of thieves, He clings to you in your Baptism. He will not let go of you. (2 Tim. 2:13) For He has made Himself your King. He has made your problems His responsibility.

For He rules you in love. Rules you with His forgiveness. (Ac. 10:43) So that clinging to Him in faith you have forgiveness in His name. For His name has been marked on you in your baptism. You belong to Him. You are His citizen. His subject. Your country—His country—is His problem. He protects, defends and saves it from all her enemies. From sin, Satan, and death—whose power is sin. (1 Cor. 15:56) So, in order to deal with death and Satan He takes sin into death in His own body, taking the just penalty of sin in His holy body, breaking death and Satan’s power over you  freeing you from sin. (1 Cor. 15:55-57)

So that, whether you believe in Him or not He is the mighty King. The King who has conquered all mankind’s enemies. He is truly worthy to be praised. To be honoured and glorified in all the earth. For the earth and its fullness are His. And one day every knee in heaven and earth shall bow before Him. (Phil. 2:9-11) Those who believe in Him bow before Him now in faith, but even those who stubbornly reject Him will bow acknowledging His rulership over all things, glorifying His Father on whose behalf He came to conquer His people’s enemies.

So that the Firstborn of the Father will be praised not only by those ancient Israelites who in faith looked forward to His coming, but by all nations of the world (Heb. 1:6)—by we Gentiles whom He came to rule in grace and truth. (John 1:17) They will praise Him for in Him they are saved. (Ac. 10:43) But He is the king of all creation. The ruler of the whole universe. And all creation sings His praise. And in the endless ages of ages the powers, dominions, and  the all hosts of heaven from the highest angelic beings to the lowest human will sing of Him and His loving rulership over us evermore and evermore. 

In +Jesus’ name, Amen. 

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

Creation waits in eager expectation waiting for the Sons of God to be revealed (Rom. 8:19)—God’s sons, His inheritors, you and I, regardless of our gender. For there is no male nor female in Christ with regards to salvation. (Gal. 3:27-29; 1 Cor. 12:13) In your salvation you are all equally inheritors of God. And creation longs for us to be revealed for what we are. So much so that the rocks will sing to praise Jesus if we will not (Luke 19:40; Matt. 27:50-51) and the skies poured forth speech the night He was born. (Luke 2:13-14) Even now, creation groans longing to throw off the shackles of sin and its misery in the world. It waits for the Son of God to come, revealing Himself, and all who are His. 

The universe groans. These groanings are signs of our Lord’s second coming. The universe shudders, it spasms, it groans and quakes longing for the freedom to come. The powers of the heavens are shaken (Luke 21:26b) by tropical storms, hurricanes, and typhoons stirring up the seas, causing devastation like Katrina in ’05, Harvy just last year, and Sandy in 2012. The earth shudders with spasms and quakes causing tsunamis like in Japan in 2011, or Thailand and Sri Lanka in ‘06.  

The nations are perplexed. (Luke 21:25) They are at a total loss as to what to do. There is much talk of global warming (or the new term “Climate change”) as a cause of all this sea surging. Yet no one can come to consensus on how accurate the scientific predictions are or even what to do about it. So that nations are literally in perplexity at the roaring of the seas. And mankind loses heart over what to do about any of it. We throw our hands up in air at these problems, losing heart over what is coming. 

For what are we to do in our little corner of the world? Is there any hope? What good can I do? How can I fix this? Rock stars and movie stars can’t fix it even when they try. Governments can’t fix it. The UN can’t get their act together even if mankind had the power to fix these problems. 

So we lose hope in expectation of what is coming. But what is coming? Our Lord is coming. (Luke 21:27-28) He is coming again. That’s what creation is shuddering about in eager anticipation, in excitement. 

For just look at our Lord’s example: the coming of summer! (Luke 21:29-30) Is that something to dread? Yet the world does dread our Lord’s coming. Why? Because the world either does not know what is coming or fears His judgement. And we get caught up in this fear, as if all these things weren’t predicted (Luke 21:31-33), as if our Lord didn’t have a plan, to bring to completion the salvation He won for us when He came the first time. (Luke 21:28, 31) Repent. 

For the Christian already has His judgment in Holy Baptism. “This is my Son whom I love, with Him I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17) You have His seal of approval on you when the Holy Spirit was poured out on you at that moment. (Matt. 3:16-17; Tit. 3:5-7) 

You are His Son—male or female—you are an heir of heaven itself. Your name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. (Rev. 21:27) And though heaven and earth pass away His Word written in His blood shall not pass away. (Luke 21:33) For all that He has planned will be accomplished. All that He has spoken will be confirmed and revealed. He has spoken over you that you are His in Baptism. So on the Last Day, when He comes again, this time not in meekness but in flashing clouds and great power (Matt. 24:30-31; Rev. 1:7), He will reveal those who are His. (Rom. 8:19) And His own will be gathered around Him (Matt. 24:30-31) so that there will be one flock and one Shepherd. (John 10:16) The goats who have pretended to be sheep, but never trusted in Him nor followed Him, will be separated from that number. (Matt. 25:31-33) They will be revealed for false sheep, for those who liked to talk of their good works, but never produced any in faith, for they had no faith in their Shepherd who saves. (Matt. 25:41-46) The sheep will be congratulated and proclaimed to be exactly what they were. (Matt. 25:34-40) They will be credited with good works that the Holy Spirit prepared in advance for them to do. (Eph. 2:10) However, these works were done in secret, even from themselves. (Matt. 6:3-4) This is so that they would not trust in their works, but only in their God. 

And so as Christians we need not fear that day, but pray! (Luke 21:36) Pray that we will escape by faith the trap coming upon the rest of humanity. (Luke 21:34-35) For faith is key to getting out of that trap which comes upon all mankind. Faith in Christ springs the trap on our coming Lord. For in His first coming He allowed Himself to be caught in the trap of God’s judgement. The judgement ought not have stuck to Him for He knew no sin. (2 Cor. 5:21) But He took our sin upon Himself, springing the trap of God’s sudden judgement and wrath against sin on Himself. He paid in His First Coming for the sins of all men. So trusting in Him, there is escape in advance of His Second Coming. Escape that supplies the needed strength to stand before Him when He comes in judgement. (Luke 21:36) And strength comes from He Himself and His Word that He has spoken over you (Rom. 15:4) and will speak over you as you stand before Him: You are my Son. (Matt. 3:17)

And so we pray. We pray for such faith to cling to Him. (Luke 21:36) Faith that sticks to Him as our sins stuck to Him. Pray for faith to not get inebriated, stupid, unthinking either by physical drunkenness or by the worries of life in this world. (Luke 21:34; Rom. 11:13-14) For those things are both equally traps to us that make us unthinking, foolish, and ignorant of His Second Coming. And they spring upon you when you least expect them to. So pray. Pray for wakefulness (Luke 21:36), for that day will come upon you, whether you are still alive or have already died. Pray for spiritual clearheadedness and sobriety that you may stand in faith before our Lord on that wonderful day when He reveals you to be a Son of God. 

For this kind of faith leads to both clearheadedness and single mindedness with the whole Church throughout all time. So that with one mind, with one voice we confess our faith in our Lord together. (Rom. 15:5-6) Now when people hear the word “confess” they think of admitting to sins. But “to confess” is simply to say what God says. God says, “You are a sinner,” and you say, “I am a sinner.” God says, “You are forgiven on account of my Son who came in the flesh of an infant boy,” and you say, “I am forgiven.” 

And this unified, single-minded speaking changes your thinking. You repent of your individualism and confess that you are one in Christ. You are saved. You are His. You love each other as He has loved you. You wrap your arms around each other as He wrapped our flesh around Himself. For Christ our Lord is the true gift, wrapped in the flesh of a man. He is love, far more than any other physical gift could ever give. For He is the gift that keeps on giving so that streams of the living water of faith flow within you. They flow and continue to flow till you are completely filled and overflow. This is how the works that Christians don’t even know they are doing happen. The Holy Spirit overflows from you in acts of love. Love that you might not think is so loving as you grudgingly do your vocation of mother, father, husband, wife, son or daughter without thanks, without recognition, sometimes even with resentment inside you. But in faith these works are counted good. In faith His love overflows from you through them. In faith you love each other and lift each other up so that we all can endure the struggles that life pours out on us. And even this is from our all-knowing, all wise Lord who is arranging these struggles in advance for you and I to be able to love each other in them in preparation of His coming again. (Mal. 4:6)

So do not be discouraged. You are loved. Do not be afraid. You are His. Do not be disturbed like the rest of our world, for you are awake and aware of what our Gracious God and Father is up to. Your redemption is drawing near. It is almost here. 

In +Jesus’ name, Amen.  

The audio above is from the morning service.

In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

The Eternal Father (He who is God, He who is the source, the Unbegotten One) somehow begot—as a Father begets or creates a child—His Son. Though His Son is uncreated and eternally existing. (John 1:1-3, 14) Yet, He is a Son. Thus, He is begotten of the Father. And by this Father all fatherhood is known. (Eph. 3:14-15) For true fatherhood is only that which bears witness to the Eternal Father who in His Son shows us a Father’s love. Before the foundation of the world this Father from a love so deep, so high, so profound that we can not imagine it—just as until love for a paramour seizes you you can’t fathom it; or maybe more profoundly, love for a child begotten of your own substance which would move you to sacrifice possibly more than even your love for your husband or wife; or maybe equal to that, the love which you has been born in your heart out of faith for your God, your saviour, and by extension and through the use and acquaintance of many years association the love which forms for your fellow family members, physical or spiritual, especially those with whom you commune on our Lord’s body and blood year in and year out. Out of such love He planned for His Son to come to save His creatures, His offspring—not of the substance of the Father before all worlds in the same way as the Son, but by fashioning Adam from the dust of earth (Gen. 2:7), knitting you together carefully in mother’s womb (Ps. 139:13), and breathing His breath of life into you. So that you became His beloved, for whom He has sacrificed the brightest Jewel of His crown. 

So that He who is uncreated, who is not a creature, willingly out of love for His Father came to save us fallen creatures. He did it out of love. Love for Him who is His Father. Love for you who are His brother. His sister. His family. He is the Firstborn of the Father. The Firstborn of all Creation (Col. 1:15) in the sense that He is the Father’s one and only Son. The Son eternally begotten of Father through whom all things were created, and apart from Whom not one thing has been made that has been made. (John 1:2-3)

And so the Father planned within the Godhead, within the internal counsels of the Holy Three, and said, “It’s time to compassion.” And sent Jesus, born of a virgin, born under Law, to redeem those under the Law. (Gal. 4:4-5) For “God had seen [your] wretched state Before the world’s foundation, And mindful of His mercies great, He planned for [your] salvation. He turned to [you] a father’s heart; He did not choose the easy part But gave His dearest treasure.” (LSB 556 “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” st. 4) 

“God said to His beloved Son: ‘It’s time to have compassion. Then go, bright jewel of My crown, And bring to all salvation. From sin and sorrow set them free; Slay bitter death for them that they May live with You forever.’” (LSB 556 “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” st. 5)

And so the eternal Son, “of the Father’s love begotten  Ere the worlds began to be,” (LSB “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” st. 1) “obeyed His Father’s will, Was born of virgin mother; And God’s good pleasure to fulfill, He came to be my brother. His royal power disguised He bore;  A servant’s form, like mine, He wore To lead the devil captive.” (LSB 556, st. 6)

For God loved the world in this way: that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not die eternally but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) A life that will not end. For though your perishing body gives way He has redeemed your soul and will keep your soul safely in His keeping, in His eternal kingdom, until the day when your body will be raised. So that whether your soul sleeps, or whether it is fully cognizant of what is happening around you in the heavenly throne room, you will be with the Lord (1 Thes. 5:9-10; Rom. 14:8) with that great cloud of witnesses. (Heb. 12:1) And ultimately you will be raised immortal, imperishable, never to die again for sin will be gone from the very fibre of your being, for you will truly be changed. (1 Cor. 15:51-53)

And ponder this: He planned all this from the foundation of the world. (Eph. 1:4) He knew that our first parents would sin Yet, He created you anyway. He knows all that will happen and is gently, mercifully, in His great power and providence supplying all that is needed through the Word of God made flesh for your salvation. (Eph. 1:8-10)

So that all creation praises its Lord! And at this time of year we see a small foretaste of this as briefly people’s thoughts turn to the Son who came from Father, full of Grace and truth. (John 1:14b) And so to our Father hymn and chant and high thanksgiving, in unending praises be, evermore and evermore. For He loved you in His Son before you were a glimmer in your earthly father’s eye. 

In +Jesus’ name, Amen.