Are You Expecting a Baby?

First Sunday of Christmas

December 27, 2015

Luke 2:25

Are You Expecting a Baby?

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I.

Simeon was an old man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for the Messiah, the Anointed Savior from the Lord. But was he expecting the Messiah to be a baby?

And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. (Luke 2:25-26)

Maybe he had heard about some strange goings on in the little town of Bethlehem a few miles away from the big city of Jerusalem. Perhaps he'd heard of the shepherds' account of the angels and their trip to the bedside of the Christ. Perhaps, perhaps not. (The Magi hadn't reached Jerusalem at this time.)

So Simeon is waiting for the Messiah. And one day―eight days after Jesus is born―the Holy Spirit ushered Simeon into church, the Temple in Jerusalem.

Is he expecting to see a baby?

II.

We live in a world that loves babies (except when we are busily murdering 700,000 of them a year). But we love babies that we can hold in our arms.

So this love of babies is especially true of Cute Little Baby Jesus. The world is filled with Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Pantheists, Hindus, and “Christians” who despise the Christ of the cross, yet many of them still love Cute Little Baby Jesus.

We sing carols romanticizing the Babe of Bethlehem who no crying He makes. The point isn't that that song is bad; the point is that believers and unbelievers alike are more inclined to focus on cute little Baby Jesus than at any other stage of His life.

Attendance at church is high among church members who despise Preaching and the Sacrament the rest of the year. That's partly nostalgia, but it also that Cute Little Baby Jesus is easier to push around. It's easier to make Cute Little Baby Jesus a symbol for whatever you want―how about world peace―than say the grown-up Jesus driving out the money-changers from the Temple with a whip or even more, the bloody Jesus Christ hanging from the cross.

We live in a world that loves to welcome Cute Little Baby Jesus. But is that whom Simeon was expecting?

III.

Babies can't do a lot. They do a few things really well, but after that, nothing. So wouldn't Simeon have been expecting a grown-up? A man who can do things? The Holy Spirit ushers Simeon into church and there's a baby! What can a baby do? Sure, the baby can grow up, but Simeon wouldn't be around for that.

Whatever disappointment sinful Simeon may or may not have had upon laying eyes on the little baby Jesus, his doubts were destroyed by the word of God. These words poured out of his mouth. He didn't care who heard. He cared only for the Child before him, his Savior for whom he had waited for his whole life. He wouldn't be around to see Jesus suffer, die, and rise again, but for Simeon it was as good as done. That's why he died happy and blessed in the name of the Lord.

IV.

Are you expecting a baby? What are you expecting when the Holy Spirit ushers you into church? Sometimes you might feel like our imagined Simeon. That's it? That's my Salvation? Just a baby. Just some bread and wine. Just some words and some hymns. That doesn't seem like much.

But as you see Christ's body before you and receive it, you realize the joy of Simeon. This is Christ.

Like Simeon, you didn't see Jesus suffer, die, and rise again, but it is done. God's Word destroys your doubt and unbelief, and replaces it with trust that Christ is for you. That's why you, too, will die happy and blessed in the name of the Lord.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Same Old Sheep, Same Old Shepherds

Christmas Morning

December 25, 2015

Luke 2:20

Same Old Sheep, Same Old Shepherds

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I.

Do you know what's missing from every Christmas pageant ever? The smell. Animals smell. Babies smell. People who are around babies and animals smell. And then the shepherds show up.

Back in the day you didn't get into shepherding because you liked animals or the outdoors or not bathing. You got into it because your dad did it. It wasn't a choice; it was your family's smelly job.

So these three words are strange,

The shepherds returned. (Luke 2:20)

II.

God had sent angels to tell them that His Son was born in Bethlehem. Thus, the shepherds had wisely and faithfully gone to see Him. We see their trust in their words to each other,

Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about. (Luke 2:15)

Not if this thing has happened, but the shepherds went to see what had happened. When God's messengers speak, things happen. When the angels told the shepherds, they trusted His word and went to see.

And they saw Jesus, who is the Word of God incarnate, in the flesh, there in the manger.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

And it came to pass that the Word had eyes and ears and a mouth and a nose! He's here and has elbows and knees and thumbs!

The shepherds saw God face-to-face. And then they spread this full-faced God around Bethlehem.

When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this Child (Luke 2:17a)

III.

Then they went back to work. It might have been tempting for them to quit their shepherding gig since―of all people―God did choose to tell them about His Son's birth. No other smelly shepherds showed up, or well-dressed merchants, or kings with gold (the Magi wouldn't show up for a while).

These shepherds returned to their same old sheep. Back to the same old faces, the same old places, the same old smells. They continued their same old routine, but from then on, I assume that they continued to speak of hearing and seeing God's Word in the manger while their sheep wandered around those fields.

Instead of going where they weren't called, they stayed where God had called them to work. They didn't go out as self-appointed preachers, potentially a less smelly line of work. Rather they wisely stayed where God had already placed them and received God's promise with joy.

You know what the shepherd know. The Child is born. He is the Word with eyes and feet and hands. He is Jesus. He came into the world so that His eyes would see how even His friends totally abandoned Him. He came into the world so that His feet and hands would be nailed to a cross. No smelly shepherds came to save the bloody Good Shepherd, but Jesus wouldn't have had it any other way. The cross was His job and His alone. Their job and ours is to speak Christ where you already are, to the same old faces, to the same old sheep, in the same old places, whether you enjoy where you are or if it smells.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

John the Grass Man

Fourth Sunday of Advent

December 20, 2015

John 1:20 & Isaiah 40:6-8

John the Grass Man

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

I.

John could have tried to be Jesus. For a while John could have said that he was the Christ. And it's a good bet that many people would've believed him for a while.

If John had said that he was the Christ, many would have followed him. John would have been able to civilization and gotten a haircut. He could have gotten free home-cooked meals instead of eating grasshoppers and honey. He could have put on comfortable clothes instead of his animal skins.

He could have had it all, but when asked directly if he was the Christ, he said,

“I am not the Christ.” (John 1:20)

Perhaps his conscience prevented him from claiming to be the Son of God. But he could have settled for being Elijah. That would have been good. The Pharisees would have been interested in meeting an 800-year old Elijah, back from the dead. They would have listened to that prophet. But John said he wasn't Elijah, either.

Instead he borrowed from a different prophet, Isaiah, and used Isaiah's words to point to the true Christ.

I am the voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord.” (John 1:23)

John patiently explained to these fellow Jews that the Lord was coming soon. Therefore, it was time to get ready for His arrival. The Jews who heard John quote Isaiah would have known the words that followed this straight-way making.

A voice says, “Cry out.”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

We get ready for Christ just as John did. We confess freely that we are fading blades of grass. We also confess that we puff ourselves up and try to stand on our own before the righteous Lord God. This is as foolish and dangerous as a blade of grass thinking that they are indestructible just before the lawn mower comes and the frost hits.

II.

So it seems odd that Jesus praised a blade of grass.

John had confessed that he was grass, here today and gone tomorrow, we might say. John said that he was not even worthy to untie Jesus' sandals. He refused to pretend to be anything more than grass.

Yet Jesus praised John.

Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. (Matthew 11:11-14)

John had said that he wasn't Elijah, but Jesus said that he was! Jesus didn't mean that John was the dead Elijah brought back to life. He meant that John was the promised prophet who spoke boldly like Elijah of old. He was the forerunner whom God had promised would arrive before the Christ and announce His coming.

John is the promised Elijah; Jesus is the promised Christ.

Jesus didn't need John (or Elijah, for that matter). But He chose to need John. He gave John life in the womb of his barren mother. He put John under orders to go out and preach repentance and baptize sinners. John didn't go on his own. Christ chose to need John and sent him out.

III.

With the same mercy Jesus chooses to need you. He sends you out, but not into the wilderness. He sends you back into your life. He sends you into His Word to confess freely that you are a blade of grass who is joyfully waiting for the coming Christ. Paul promised that the Lord is near. These final days of waiting will pass quickly and so we rejoice and are glad. John had been dead for many years when Paul wrote his letter to the Christians in Philippi, but surely they capture John's joy in the coming Christ. Our joy, too.

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Escaping All These Things

Second Sunday of Advent

December 6, 2015

Luke 21:36

Escaping All These Things

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen,

and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

A lot of people died this week. Most were strangers. Some of those who died didn't even have names.

There was also another Islamic terrorist attack—people having a Christmas party were gunned down without warning.

But I did know someone who died this week; he was a classmate from high school and a roommate in college. His name was Tim. He died suddenly in Tampa this week, when a fight at a neighborhood nightspot got out of hand.

Whether we die alone or with others, with warning or without, in the daytime or at night, each of us will stand before Christ at the end of our time on earth to be judged, each according to our own faith in Him. Those who trust in Jesus will escape with their lives into eternity.

Today the day of escape is one day closer for each of us. And escape is the right word. We are now victorious and triumphant in Christ, but we often don't feel victorious or look triumphant. Christ makes good our escape, but it will be a close one because of us.

Jesus used the example of a tree sprouting leaves as the obvious sign that summer is coming. There are some signs that tell us things.

Kids, if your house feels hot and you smell smoke, what does this tell you? The house is on fire! Jesus talks about escaping, and so we might think of escaping a burning building. Any wise person knows that escaping is the top priority.

In a way our lives here on earth are burning buildings. Christ makes good our escape from ourselves, but we want to stay behind and hang onto to all these things, often when we know that we're going get burnt.

As Jesus said, we burn ourselves by getting trapped into dissipation, drunkenness, and the anxieties of life.

Dissipation isn't a word we use, but it is the opposite of anticipation. People who live in anticipation are focused on God's kingdom and that His Son is coming back; those who live in dissipation are scattered and their focus is not on what really matters. People who live dissipated lives drift from little thing to little thing. Peter wrote about this drift in his first letter.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead … The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. (1 Peter 4:1-5, 7)

Peter perhaps had Jesus' warning on his mind when he was inspired to write these words, linking dissipation to drunkenness.

For those who drift through this life and have no focus on what is to come, getting drunk is a natural path to take. If this is it, it is fairly logical to spend the flickering moments of life squeezing pleasure out of every second. A dissipated heathen might say: “Achieve better dissipated living drifting through daiquiris and Dewar's.

But you don't get drunk on wine or booze. Good. But why do you intoxicate yourself by living confidently that today will end like every other day? Intoxicate is a good word to describe drunkenness, both the wet kind and the dry kind, because the belief that time won't end is toxic. The belief that this life is all that there is is toxic.

A recent example of this toxic view is how some condemned those who sent out message saying that they were praying for those suffering in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in California. These messages of support were mocked venomously because these mockers believe that time won't end. They believe that this life is all there is. They trust in the god, whose name is humanity. So consistently these critics, really their high priests, damn anyone who prays to Christ and pleads for His mercy on behalf of those who suffer. These mockers are zealous for their god. But their god is a lie.

Be like the wise Virgin and carefully ponder these things in your heart. It is right to understand and point out the toxic words of unbelievers, but we must watch ourselves.

If we become more fired up over the threat of Islamic terrorism, which can kill the body, than the danger of unbelief in our own homes, then we need to take a close look at ourselves, repent, and trust the Gospel. If we pat ourselves on the back because we say Merry Christmas before it's even Christmas and don't consider the possibility that there might not even be a Christmas, then we should probably take a look in the mirror, repent, and trust the Gospel.

When you or someone you know becomes intoxicated by the worries of this world, speak, Christian. When the world shakes with tumult and destruction and they ask, “Why doesn't God fix this? This world? This violence? This death?” we tell them, “He did. God did fix this with the death of His own Son.” Christ willingly suffered in His body to take away the punishment for violence, anger, indifference, all our sin. Likewise we suffer and will only escape all these things only though His forgiving blood.

A lot of people died this week. Most were strangers, a few weren't. But for those who died in the Lord, they escaped all these things into everlasting life because:

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

Blessed Is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord!

First Sunday of Advent

November 29, 2015

Matthew 21:1-9

Blessed Is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord!

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Often your moment of greatest exaltation is the also the moment when you're under the greatest scrutiny and attack from your enemies.

When a kid hits the go-ahead free throw with one second left to close out his 8^th grade basketball career, it is a moment of great elation. But that kid soon discovers that making that shot made him a lot of enemies. His friends love him even more, but now his enemies give him dirty looks.

Or the story of the shepherd boy who killed an evil giant with a slung stone. While everyone praised and sang this boy's name with joy, the boy's king was sullen and jealous that the boy was getting all the attention. His jealousy led him to try many times to murder this shepherd boy. A moment of great exaltation is also the moment when a lasting hatred is born.

Even so while Jesus experienced elation and exaltation, even then His enemies were silently plotting to kill Him. A very mixed triumph, indeed.

Let's set the scene. Jesus had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary 33 years earlier. He had famously been “lost” in Jerusalem 21 years earlier, when He was 12.

And then three years before Jesus entered Jerusalem in triumph, things really started happening. He had been baptized. He had gone to a wedding and changed water to wine. Many other miracles followed in these years of traveling and teaching. He had been to Jerusalem many times during His life and ministry but today was special.

The crowds were chanting praises to Him and using His special name, the Son of David. This name designated Him correctly as the Savior of sinners from their stubborn separation from the one true and holy God. The kids were shouting hosanna; many others were laying out their own cloaks and cut palm branches to create a “red carpet” for this Son of David.

The disciples went and did just as Jesus had instructed them, and brought the donkey and the colt, and laid their coats on them; and He sat on the coats. Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:6-9)

The Son of David was the special name given by the prophets to describe the Savior's greatness and origins.

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,

On the throne of David and over his kingdom,

To establish it and to uphold it with justice

and righteousness From then on and forevermore.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

(Isaiah 9:7)

David was the greatest king Israel had even seen; Jesus is even greater. And Jesus came from the physical family tree of David; Jesus was David's great-grandson born 1,000 years after David was dead and buried.

And there's the most compelling difference between David and the Son of David. David died and is still dead; Jesus died and rose from the dead. David's body is dust and ashes for going on 3,000 years; Jesus, the Son of David, rules with His glorious body this very day.

And so we join the triumph and sing this very day, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Consider when we sing these words. Open your hymnal to the front section and take a look at page 22.

Blessed is He, blessed is He, blessed is He, who comes in the name of the Lord!

Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest!

Advent means arrival. So before we receive the advent of Christ's body into our mouths this morning, we join the crowd and use their praises to praise our mutual Savior from sin. What perfectly good timing to praise and confess His advent into our lives!

For all believers wherever they are, the advent, the coming of Christ into our lives, is a triumph that He freely gives to us, that also brings enemies. The worst enemy that plots against us is our own heart. When things don't go as planned, our sinful hearts become sad or upset.

The kid who made the shot to win the game isn't good enough to make the high school freshman team. The shepherd boy now has a target on his back; the king is out to get him. Both these stories happened; one story is small and the other is one of Biblical proportions. But for both believers they perhaps wondered why things turned out the way they did. Why is it so hard?

You might be surprised to learn that no one wondered this more than Christ Himself. A few days after Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, He was praying to His Father in heaven that He would find another way to save mankind. 

“Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

And there we hear the greatness of the Son of David, “Not My will, but Your will be done.” Our gracious God's will was for Jesus to come into the world in the name of the Lord, come to the cross, and then three days later come out of the grave. He now comes to us this very day to bring us the forgiveness of our sin. And He is coming back in triumph that will leave no more enemies to haunt us, not even our own sinful hearts. When Jesus comes in triumph the last time, hopefully today, all believers will shout with joy, no one more than the boy who made the free throw, no one more than David himself.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us,

so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God! Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:21

The Thanksgiving of Martha and Mary

Thanksgiving

November 26, 2015

John 12:1-3

The Thanksgiving of Martha and Mary

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever been to a family gathering after you or a relative has had a brush with death? Maybe the youngest nephew was in the NICU or you almost had a car accident or an aunt who survived cancer. Knowing that someone could have been missing from the family table, but is there, makes it special.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus weren't celebrating Thanksgiving, but it was a time of gathering and eating during the time leading up to the Passover. And they invited Jesus and His disciples into their house for a dinner given in His honor. They had had Jesus over to supper before, but this was the first time after Lazarus had been raised from the dead.

Lazarus hadn't had a brush with death; he'd been dead for four days. And Jesus had the stone rolled away and called to the rotting Lazarus and told him to come out of his tomb. When God speaks, things happen, so Lazarus came out. Now Lazarus was eating with Jesus, His Savior, at his own table.

Jesus, therefore, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made Him a supper there, and Martha was serving; but Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:1-3)

Those three remarkable siblings were each giving thanksgiving to Jesus in different wonderful ways.

Lazarus was enjoying the gift of life and relishing the delicious meal prepared by his sister. Since we equate thanksgiving mostly with having a thankful feeling, it might be strange to think of Lazarus' eating as thanksgiving. But for someone who had gone through the extraordinary journey of coming back from death to life, eating itself is a miracle. In defiance to the Devil, who wishes to steal away our food and happiness, eating is a confession of trust and thanks to the One who bring us our life and daily bread.

Thank you, Jesus, for my hands that are no longer cold and dead, but instead holding bread.

Martha was making food for her Savior. Her thanksgiving probably is easier to relate to, although Mary's bold act certainly grabbed the spotlight. But notice there is no objection from Martha this time. At an earlier dinner she had complained about Mary's failure to help in the kitchen. This time Martha doesn't kick up a fuss about the money her sister spent or how this anointing was a distraction. No, this time, she says nothing. I believe her trust in Christ saw her sister's act with approval and clarity. Jesus was soon to die. Why not thank and anoint the Great Lion of Judah before He goes to die as the willing Lamb? But for six more days, He needs to eat. And she feeds Him.

Thank you, Jesus, for my hands that are skilled at preparing food for You and my family and friends.

Mary poured perfume on Jesus. When did she start saving the money for this nard? Was this her widow's mite, all her savings, her dowry that should have been for marriage? Did the three siblings pool their money together for this lavish gift? We don't know, but she spent a year's wages on Jesus' feet. When others tried to mock her thanksgiving, Jesus replied,

“[Leave] her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial.” (John 12:7)

She was thanking her Savior for His death that was days away. No one was able to anoint then, but Mary did it before the thorns and nails and spear pierced Him through. She did not wait to show her gratitude for Jesus' sacrifice.

Thank you, Jesus, for hands that can anoint You with oil and honor You as my gracious Lord, who forgives my miserable hands, which are made righteous through Your cross and Baptism.

Blessed are You, dear fellow siblings in Christ!

Blessed are the hands that are warm and alive and display His care.

Blessed are the hands that are skilled and used in service to the needs of others.

Blessed are the hands that honor Him with our treasure and adoration.

Let us pray.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endures forever.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

What Are You Waiting For?

Last Sunday after Pentecost

November 22, 2015

Mark 13:32-37

What Are You Waiting For?

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

What are you waiting for?

A birthday? A raise? A baby? A tooth? The end of winter? Retirement?

We are waiting for a lot of things.

Just three days before Jesus was crucified, one of His disciples was waiting. He was waiting for Jesus to be impressed. He was walking with Jesus near the Temple and was impressed with the architecture; he wanted Jesus to be impressed, too.

As He was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” (Mark 13:1-4)

And Jesus went on to tell them about the signs of the end of the world.

The world has seen many lying preachers, men pretending to be the real Jesus, wars, rumors of wars, famine, earthquakes. The Gospel has been preached to ends of the earth and the world certainly hates Christ and those who follow Him.

All these signs have happened and will continue to happen until Jesus comes back.

And so today, the question is: are you waiting for Him to come back? Jesus declared:

“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It's like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'” (Mark 13:32-37)

For believers who trust that Jesus is coming back, the better question is: how you are waiting?

Jesus' answer is clear: Be alert and be on watch because you don't know when He will come back. And while we wait for Him, He has assigned tasks to us.

Our tasks that He has called us to do are many and varied: teaching kids, medical care, building things, fixing things, adjusting spines, making music, encouraging people, and much more.

But our most important job is tell people about Jesus. And we want to make sure we do this in the right order.

First, we need to clear up a key point: Are you people? Are you a person? You are and that means that Jesus is for you. This means that, first and foremost, we tell ourselves about Jesus through daily prayer. Finding a designated place in our home for our Bible and designating time every day to read a portion quietly aloud to ourselves. Law and Gospel isn't just for unbelievers; it's for us, too.

Second, we speak Him to our family by reading the Bible together, singing hymns together, praying together, and coming to church together and staying to study what Jesus says with our church family.

And finally, we confess Christ to people who don't know or don't know well. An important way we do this is to spend our money to support our pastors as they go out and speak to strangers about Jesus. This happens here and overseas. A good example of this is our missionaries sent out to places like Russia, Malawi, and Antigua.

Another important job Jesus has given us to do is to live a life that refuses to accommodate to the culture around us. When our strange beliefs cause others to take notice and perhaps to be upset with us, we will respond with Christ. The suffering and crucified Christ who won victory over death and Satan for all people; the Christ who lives again and is coming back.

A God who is coming back is scary for those who don't believe. That our building and our nation and our world won't be around for long is scary for unbelievers. But as we speak Christ to them, we pray that the Spirit will create trust in their hearts that will turn their fear of His return into watchful waiting with us.

These are the jobs that Jesus has left us here to do while He is away. But He is coming back, probably today. If not, maybe tomorrow. But whenever He does, He will find us at work, not working for ourselves, but by His mercy and receiving His Supper, working for Him.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

When Less Is More

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

November 15, 2015

Mark 12:41-44

When Less Is More

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

In the old days, many of our churches were like the churches in the days of Jesus. After the sermon and before Communion, the congregation will line up and one at a time walk behind the altar (most altars in the old days were the tall beautiful kind) and put their offerings in a box. There were no ushers or plates, just a box behind the altar.

But over time something bad began to happen. People started to think that they were paying for God to care about them. They even thought that their money in a box was what made them worthy to receive the blessed Supper of Holy Communion.

None of our churches receive money in this way today. And I'm glad. Whenever what we are doing or how we are doing it gets in the way of Christ's cross, gospel, and sacraments (the things that God does), then we wisely ask why we are doing what we are doing.

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling His disciples to Him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything―all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)

Unlike our old practice of giving money where others couldn't see how much you put in to the box, Jesus could. Anybody could see how much money you put in the Temple treasury (the Temple was where Jews of the Old Testament rightly gathered to offer sacrifices to God that pointed them to Jesus).

Could you imagine if I followed around the ushers as they pass the offering plates this morning? Could you imagine if our offering box was behind our altar today and everyone could see you what you put in? Wouldn't that be scary? Intimidating? Offensive? Would you even come to church next Sunday?

But that's what Jesus did. He watched closely what everyone put in. And strangely of all people, He didn't need to. He already knew because God knows all things, and that includes trillions and trillions of very specific things. He knew how much the widow gave, the rich people gave, and He knows how much you'll give this morning.

Did you consider that as you wrote your check last night or you dig through your money this morning? And I'm guessing that doesn't offend us. But if Jesus unhide Himself from our eyes, that would be weird, even uncomfortable. We are sinful people who trust our eyes, and when other eyes are on us, we get nervous. Are they judging me?

In one sense, the Culture has stolen Jesus from the Church and made Him the ultimate Non-Judge. But what was He doing as He watched the people put in their money and then talked about them? Wasn't He judging? We know that Jesus always does what is good, right, and salutary. So His judging of how much money was put in by one and all was also good and right.

And His judgment was that less is more when the heart is full of His promises. His greatest promise is that He became poor so that we might become rich.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)

This is the way God does things. He uses what seems like less in our eyes to accomplish more than we can possibly imagine. For the poor widow and for us Christ gave His own body as an offering on the cross. This offering looked small, just like the widow's offering. Indeed the name of the coin she put in was a lepton, which is Greek for small. To our eyes those pennies and His body seem small. But with our new baptized eyes we see enormous wisdom and mercy.

The widow's small money was given in trust of her dear Lord's promises that even though she dies, she lives.

In those olden days she did die. But she lives around the throne of Christ, not because of her money, but because of His enormous offering of Himself.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!