"Dumb" Men Called into the Office of the Holy Word

Third Sunday after the Epiphany

January 25, 2015

Mark 1:16-20

"Dumb" Men Called into the Office of the Holy Word

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

Amen.

Being deaf and dumb means that your ears and mouth don't work. And the men that Jesus called to be His first preachers—Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John—were spiritually deaf and dumb. Their ears and mouths worked just fine, but because they were sinners their ears and mouths were naturally against Jesus. So what happened next was a miracle.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

"Come, follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed Him.

When He had gone a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.

Immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him. (Mark 1:16-20)

That Jesus would call these sinners to Himself was a miracle. However, it wasn't the only strange thing that happened that day. Along with Jesus' mercy in calling them, the other miracle is that these men followed silently.

If a man who's more or less a strange calls over to you and says, "Follow me," you'd ask questions: "Who are you? Where are we going? Why did you pick me?"

But instead of asking some fairly reasonable questions, they immediately and without question left their nets and followed Him. Why? That's the important question: Why? What allowed them to follow Him like they did?

It's tempting to think that it was because they were saints. That they were special men who were waiting around for Jesus to show up. But this wasn't Danny Ocean rounding up the Eleven to pull a heist or Professor Xavier putting together the X-Men to fight bad guys. No, before Jesus' call, Peter, Andrew, James, John, and the other eight were terribly dumb sinners, unable to mouth words that our heavenly Father would find acceptable. Later on in Jesus' ministry we hear their doubt and dumbness right out of their own mouths. In Mark 4 these men cry out during a bad storm on the Sea of Galilee, while Jesus was sleeping,

"Teacher, don't You care if we drown?" (Mark 4:38)

In Mark 6 Jesus tells His men to feed the 5,000 and they can't believe what He saying.

"That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?" (Mark 6:37)

In Matthew 14 they see Jesus walking on the water and yelled,

"It's a ghost," and cried out in fear. (Matthew 14:26)

When Jesus tells His disciples that He wants to give the crowd of 4,000 something to eat, their answer is foolish since they have already seen Jesus feed larger crowds:

"But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?" (Mark 8:4)

Dearly beloved, we would have asked the same "dumb" questions in our own way. But it shows us that what creates trust in Christ is only His holy Word, and nothing else. What overcomes our unbelief and doubts is His holy Word. His Word made the difference. Because of Jesus' holy Word that created good ears and mouths, they followed Him immediately.

Dearly beloved, remember how your ears and your mouth were made good by the Word of God. Remember that your mouth used to be dumb, unable to speak anything good to God. Remember that your ears before Jesus were unable to hear good things.

In the same way your pastors are dumb men whom Christ has called to speak His Words to you. Like those first preachers most of pastor today enter into training for the Office of the Holy Ministry without any questions. My journey into the Office is typical. I spent four years at Luther Prep School, then four years at Martin Luther College, and then three years at our seminary in Wisconsin. And as I got closer to the end of my training to be a pastor, then I started to realize what a demanding vocation this would be. But what keeps me in this Office of the Holy Word is the same thing that keeps you into your Baptisms: the living Word of God, Jesus Christ.

So support your pastors with your good mouths by praying for us. Support your pastors with your good ears by listening to Christ as His preachers preach our sins away for His sake.

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Alleluia! Amen.

Nathanael Noticed What No-Good Nazareth Ignored

Second Sunday after the Epiphany

January 18, 2015

John 1:46

Nathanael Noticed What No-Good Nazareth Ignored

Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.

"Come and see," said Philip. (John 1:46)

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

Amen.

We don't know a lot about Jesus' hometown of Nazareth. But what we do know isn't great. Nazareth is the town where Jesus couldn't do any miracles, because they rejected Jesus. And Jesus was amazed at them for the worst possible reason.

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by His disciples. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were amazed.

“Where did this Man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given Him? What are these remarkable miracles He is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in His own town, among His relatives and in His own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:1-6)

So when Philip finds Nathanael and tells him that he knew where to find the promised Savior, and that He came from Nazareth, Nathanael wasn't impressed: "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" But when Nathanael did come and see, He noticed the One Good Thing that no-good Nazareth ignored.

Nathanael was impressed with Jesus because Jesus had told him that he had been under a fig tree—a mini-miracle.

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, He said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."

"How do You know me?" Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."

Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." (John 1:47-50)

But even more impressive was that Jesus knew Nathanael. He knew Nathanael. He knew what Nathanael was looking for and He was it. And so even though Nathanael hadn't seen any big miracles or heard Jesus' preaching, he had received Jesus' call into righteousness through Jesus' words. The miracle got Nathanael's attention, but Jesus' words created trust in his heart.

The people of Nazareth and Nathanael. They were both Israelites who knew the promises of Moses and the prophets. They were both looking ahead to the Messiah, the One sent from God to save sinners. But when encountering Christ, Nazareth was offended by Him, but Nathanael confessed Him.

Today the Church also remembers the Confession of St. Peter

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."

"But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say I am?"

Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by My Father in heaven." (Matthew 16:13-17)

These words of Peter came later in Jesus' ministry; Nathanael's similar confession came right away. Both men would join Nazareth in their sinful rejection and betrayal of Jesus. But by His mercy Jesus held onto Nathanael and Peter and brought them back into His forgiveness. This forgiveness of our sin is what makes access to everlasting life a reality.

And so Jesus said to Nathanael:

"I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." (John 1:51)

How do we gain heavenly life? Upon the Son of Man. On Jesus and Him alone. If even the angels need Jesus to get to and from heaven, how much more do Nathanael and Peter and you and I need Him?

We used to be Nazareth; we thought we didn't need Him. But He came to us in the Gospel Sacraments, and He gives Himself to us and gives us all we need.

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

Alleluia! Amen.

The Other Christmas Miracle

Second Sunday of Christmas

January 4, 2015

John 7:40-43

The Other Christmas Miracle

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

Amen.

There are two miracles that the Church proclaims in Christmas.

The first miracle is the Incarnation. God became a man and was like us in every way, yet without sin.

The second miracle is that we hear that God became a man and we believe Him. This is why the Holy Scripture from John this morning fast-forwards to Jesus as a grown up. The communion of saints—the Church—wisely remembers that even at the feet of Jesus some people actually believed His words.

It's impossible to believe that God in flesh was a little baby. It's impossible to believe that God in the flesh is a grown up carpenter's son from Nazareth.

But it's easy to think that if Jesus talked to you in person, then you'd automatically believe Him. But He did and many didn't. But the miracle is that some did. They believed Him not because seeing is believing, but for them hearing was believing. Hearing the Word made man was and still is the only Way to Life in Christ. These are the two miracles of Christmas!

Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners—

of whom I am the worst.

Alleluia! Amen.