Easter 4 - John 10:22-30

“Love your enemies” the scriptures tell us. “Pray for those who persecute you.” That is easier said than done. But fortunately for us, that is exactly what Jesus does.
If it would have been you or me, we probably would not have responded in the same way. We have all kinds of defense mechanisms that kick in when we are confronted. We get tongue tied, nervous, our blood pressure goes up. Sometimes we get frustrated, sometimes introspective. We feel the need to defend ourselves, or else we feel the impulse to go on the offensive. None of these things are helpful. Maybe you can relate.
But not Jesus.
Here in our text, Jesus finds himself face to face with those who do not believe in him. They confront him. They push him. They attempt to force his hand. “Who are you really. If you are the Christ tell us plainly.“
Do you know what that is like?
Jesus does. And instead of responding like me, either defensively, or lashing out and attacking, Jesus responds in love. In love, Jesus confronts the sin of the sinner. And he does, here in our lesson for today, but not with vengeance or anger. Not with hatred or spite. Jesus corrects and rebukes mercifully and lovingly. And even with his enemies He invites them to believe. Lay aside your unbelief and follow me. Be one of my sheep. For I am the Good Shepherd and I protect and care for my sheep and I preserve them even for eternity.
Initially the details of our text are quickly glossed over. But a careful re-reading will help us to set the stage. It was winter. It was stormy and cold outside. The Jerusalem temple was open air and there was one portion that offered shelter, the area named in our text, Solomon's Portico. Perhaps kept away by the storm, Jesus was not accompanied by the typical large crowd. He was on his own, maybe with a small contingent of his disciples. The unbelieving Jews were there at the temple, they saw Jesus without the crowds. They saw an opportunity. Jesus was popular with the crowds. The Jews couldn't adequately confront him as long as they were around, but on this day the crowds were absent. They had the opportunity to gang up on him and they took full advantage. They approached Jesus, surrounded him. Got in his face and started to challenge him.
Behavioral therapists will tell us that human instinct has a “flight or fight mechanism” built in to it. When confronted, in the interest of self preservation most people will do one of two things; they will either run away and hide or they will lash out and fight back. Jesus does neither. He didn't run away because He couldn't run away. The people who surrounded him were the people he came to save. He loved them. In spite of their hatred for him he cared for them and he desired their salvation. Neither did he fight back. Not because he was unable. He could call down thousands of angels to come fight for him. But he allowed the attack to continue. And in the context of this attack, Jesus gives one of the most stirring of Gospel invitations that scripture has to offer.
When you think of an icon of manliness, who would it be? – someone who exhibits strength and poise and determination. Someone who doesn't back down from a fight. Put Jesus on the top of that list. Jesus is tough and strong, yet at the same time possessing a gentle and kind eye. Jesus stands up against his attackers and he meets them head on confronting them with their refusal to believe. When they got in his face and demanded that he account for himself, Jesus shot back, “I told you. You did not believe.” Firm but gentle. Resolute yet merciful. Confrontational yet kind.
And it was true. Jesus had spoken plainly about his identity in the past. They heard it. But they did not believe it. Jesus had said, “Before Abraham was, I Am”. When Moses asked God for his name, a name to tell his people who were enslaved in Egypt, the name God gave was Yahweh. “I Am" in English. Egw Eimi. In Greek. The Jews knew what he meant. They understood his reference. The tried to stone him on the spot. But God spared Jesus because it was not yet his time.
But that is the point. Jesus told them, as plain as day, as plain as could be. And in spite of hearing it and in spite of understanding it they refused to believe it. They are like the hard ground that receives the seed in Jesus' parable. The seed falls on the soil yet it does not sink in and take root and grow because the soil is too hard.
Now if you are trying to plow through hard soil, there are different strategies. If a shovel doesn't work, you get a back hoe. If a back hoe doesn't work, you get some dynamite. Each time, more power, more muscle, more violence.
But Jesus has a different strategy. Instead of getting their attention to change their hearts with violence, Jesus preaches the Gospel. He goes into his Good Shepherd Narrative. He tells of the sheep who are in his flock and how he calls to them and they hear his voice. They know that he is the one speaking and they come to him to follow him. And he leads these sheep to an eternal pasture where they will graze as he lovingly watches over them. No wolves will come to attack and kill and carry away. No storms or death will invade to wash out his pasture. No famine will deprive his sheep of their fill. Their lives will be peaceful and idyllic. Jesus speaks of the blessings of heaven set aside for those who believe in him.
Implicit in this preaching is an invitation. You do not believe but you could. You have hardened your hearts but they could be made soft. You have rejected this Word but it could be received. No big stick. No smack in the face with the law. Just God's gospel word of promise. Just God's invitation to heavenly joy.
But we are cynical aren't we? The law is still coming we would say. It always does. There is always hell to pay. It's like third down when the home team is on defense. The bell starts to toll. The enforcer down is on his way.
But not for you. Not even for them. Not on that day. While Jesus met their unbelief with kindness and mercy and love, they turned it to violence. While Jesus gently invited them with preaching and proclaiming his love they reacted in hate. They were discussing his demise behind closed doors. They would arrest him, falsely accuse him, and then stir up the crowds to kill him. They would hand him over to the Romans for execution. They would call for his death by hanging. They would see to it that he was hung upon a cross. They would see to it that his name was forgotten and his works buried if it was the last thing they did.
So that is what happened. Jesus was arrested. Jesus was nailed to a cross. Jesus died. And there was hell to pay. But not for you. For him. And not just a roman hell, not just a roman shame, it was God's hell and God's shame. God turned his back on His Son. God turned his wrath against his son. God spent an eternities worth of punishment on Jesus so that big stick would never have to come off it's branch, so that you could be changed and healed and saved. Not with the law, not with pain, not with suffering, but with God's gentle invitation to heaven.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd does not change your heart with power and violence. He doesn't get a bigger stick until he can finally get through. Jesus changes your heart with love and mercy. God changes your heart with the gospel. Jesus changes your heart with his word of Grace that goes where he wills and accomplishes what he has appointed. God changes your heart with his Holy Spirit, who accompanies that Word. God changes your heart with love that raises you from the dead, that creates life where there was death, that creates a heart of flesh where there was stone, that creates the oil of gladness where there was weeping and mourning.
This is what God has done for you. This is what god continues to do for you. Salvation. For free. For ever.
Amen.

Lent 4 - Luke 15:11-32

You may or may not know this about me, but I am a gadget person. I love little electronic gadgets and I have a small collection of them. And among those gadgets, my favorite is my iPod. It turn our, a few weeks ago I lost my iPod. Julie will tell you that it is nothing more than a glorified toy. But I bet to differ. There may be a few “fun” apps on it. But it also keeps my schedule for me, my to do list. I have it loaded with several versions of the Bible, including the Greek and Hebrew. In spite of what those naysayers might believe, I find it to be a tool that helps me to do my job more efficiently.

Or at least it was... until I lost it. I have no idea where it went. I have racked my brain trying to figure out where I was and what I did when it disappeared. I have torn apart every cupboard, basket, bag, pocket and box that I could think of. Yet in spite of all my efforts and in spite of the hours and even days I spent trying to remember where I would have placed it, I could not find it. I never found it. I wound up having to replace it.

Perhaps you have had a similar experience. We loose things all the time; iPods, cell phones, car keys, tickets, checks, cash, coins, television remotes – all kinds of things. We hate loosing them. We look for them. We are troubled when we cannot find them and once again have them and use them. It's frustrating.

My fellow Christians, if only we would search for our lost brothers and sisters with the same fervor that we search for our iPods.

This is the point of our parable today. Or at least one of them.

Luke tells us that Jesus was eating with tax collectors and sinners and it turns our that the pharisees and scribes were critical. How could a righteous man spend time with sinners? How could he sit with them? Talk with them? Be in the same room with them? Or Worse, at the same table with them? They called him out on what they thought was a compromising religious position. Jesus was turning himself into a low down and dirty sinner, along with all those tax collectors and prostitutes. Doesn't he know that “bad company corrupts good character.”

Normally it does. Normally good character gets involved with bad company because it seems fun and attractive. Not with Jesus. Jesus gets invovled with bad company because that bad company is lost and needs to be found. Jesus set them straight. He told three parables back to back. Lost Sheep. Lost Coin. And this one, the one that we call the Prodigal Son, but in its context we might call it the Lost Son. A parable about a son who (as the father says at the end of the parable) was lost and is found.

In each case there is something lost; a sheep, a coin, a son. And in each case the shepherd who lost his sheep, the woman who lost her coin, the father who lost his son was not content until the thing lost was found; and in each case, after the one lost was found, there is a party. A celebration. There is joy and elation because what was lost is found and restored to its rightful place.

Jesus goes after those who are lost to bring them back so that they might be found. But are we sometimes like those pharisees and scribes? Are we sometimes like the older son in the parable who stood off at a distance and wouldn't go in to the party and celebrate at the return of his brother? Do we, at times, look down on those who are lost? Do we shun those who are sinners? Do we refuse to reach out in love? Do we fear that we might get ourselves a little dirty? Are we afraid of what our friends might say and keep away from those who are lost?

Perhaps we are. Perhaps we do.

The sin of the Pharisees was that they sized up the sinner by the size of the sin. Tax collecting, prostitution, or in our own day – drugs, alcoholism, all kinds of addictions, adultery, abortion - those are the big sins and therefore those are the big sinners. But... we tell ourselves, a little jealousy here, some gossip there, maybe throw in a small amount of coveting or some lust, that's harmless, that's normal. Right? So we think. We measure and compare sins like fisherman and their fish or like farmers and their tractors, like brides-to-be with their engagement rings. “The bigger the sin, the bigger the sinner.” Or so we think.

Truth be told, there are not small sinners because there are no small sins – not where God is concerned. Every sin is a damning sin. Every sin has death and hell as its payout.

So while we measure and compare and size one another up, we drive away those who we feel are the worst among us. Sinners, those we have labeled as the big sinners, carry their guilt and shame like a scarlet letter emblazoned on their jackets. Meanwhile the rest of us, like the scribes and pharisees, like the older son, sit around and gossip about them, point fingers at them, and tell ourselves that we are glad we are not like them. Instead we spend more time looking for our keys and our remote controls and our iPods then we do looking for our lost brothers and sisters.

But not Jesus. Jesus is the shepherd who leaves the 99. Jesus leaves the safe bet and wastes his time chasing around the runners. He follows them through think and thin, over hill and vale. Through hell or high water so that he can catch them when they have fallen and carry them back when they have come to the end. Jesus will not be denied the rediscovery of those he loses.

Or consider the Father in our text here today. First of all, he doesn't deny the son his request. In spite of his son's hurtful and selfish and foolish request the father gives in. God doesn't ever force us to stay. When sinners choose their sin over God's salvation he always permits us to go our way. Just as with this son. “Dad I want my inheritance now. Waiting until your dead is too long to wait for me to get my hands on your money. Give it to me now.” The father says “Yes.” Our Father says “Yes.”

The son goes out to squander the wealth of his father. Just like rebellious Christians squander their inheritance and trash their baptism, lay aside our Bibles, despise the Lord's body and blood. And likewise this son, He exchanged the house of his father for the temporary glitz of the outside world. He lived “big and rich” a real high roller. But soon his big wad of cash became a pile of pennies so he had nothing. The extravagant son was poverty stricken.

Perhaps that has been you. Perhaps that has been someone you know. Leaving the comfort and protection of God's house to follow the flashing lights on the world's marquee.

The Father permitted the son to have his foolishness. He let him go, but that was not the end of the story. He didn't write his son off. He never treated him like death. Instead He waited for his return. He hoped for and longed for his return.

God's waiting is different from our waiting. God's waiting is active waiting. He pursues while he waits. He sends out his Holy Spirit who convicts and draws and calls and reminds. And in the mean time he waits.

Or Jesus, the shepherd, Jesus the coin dealer, he searches. He seeks. He pursues. He chases. He stops and nothing and goes through everything to find what he has lost.

So often, we think of it as a lost cause. A wasted effort. Why bother. So often we won't even try. We don't know what to say. We don't know what to do. We don't know how to do it. And so we do nothing.

“But what can I do?” You might ask. You can pray. (Don't stop praying. God hears your prayers.) You can write, call, text, send an email – we are more connected today than we have ever been – why let the devil own the technology, lets use it against him.

It doesn't have to be much. You don't have to win an argument. It doesn't have to be an argument. Just a word. An invitation. Letting him know you missed him. Letting her know she is still welcome. There is a place for sinners in Christ's church. There would have to be, or we wouldn't be here. Christ invites sinners to return.

And just like in the parable, the Father waits. He scans the horizon thinking maybe today is the day. Maybe this is the day she'll return. Maybe this is the day I'll see the one I love who left.

But what of the sin. Every wandering sheep comes back a little dirty. The hills and valleys have a way of leaving us with some bumps and bruises, some breaks and strains. Or like the son who was unclean and unworthy. We squandered everything, had nothing and was unfit to be called a son.

Well, its true, bad company does corrupt good character. And so Jesus goes to be with the bad company so that he could become the bad company. Jesus lived with us and among us so that he could be us without ever doing the things that we do so that he could make a trade. He became the bad company and gave us His good character.

And when the son finally returned, when he finally repented of his wrong and came back still smelling of his sin, the father covered him – a new robe. The best robe. And ring on his hand – not a servant but a son. And a party.

And what a party it was. The fattened calf! Not just a meat tray from the local deli. Not just pulling a few steak from the freezer. The fattened calf. Fillet Mignon. He went all out. His son who was lost has been found.

Can you imagine? A party for you, you as the guest of honor in heaven.

We've all seen it before. A team wins the big game, a championship, and the cameras go into the locker room to catch the celebration. There is dancing, singing, hand slapping, hugs. Smiles. High fives. Laughing. Champagne. And why not. It's a victory celebration. And that for a game.

That's the scene in heaven. The celebration for the victory when a sinner returns home to her Heavenly Father.

Amen.

Lent 3 - 1 Corinthians 10:10-13

“The end of the Ages has come.” says the Apostle Paul. That little phrase it kind of tucked in there, hiding in our epistle lesson, perhaps on our first time through you didn't notice it. But sure enough, right there at the end of verse 11, there it is. “The end of the ages has come.” The end times. The last days. The conclusion to history. That time has come!
But then again, you probably already knew that, or at least were thinking it, what with all the crazy earthquakes, ridiculous weather patterns, and terrorists and rouge nations deciding to go nuclear and things like that. It all sounds rather like the apocalypse, does it not?
It all sounds a lot like the world that Jesus describes.
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-7)
And so, as though there might have been some doubt about it, the Apostle puts and end to it and comes right out and says it, “The end of the ages has come.”
But it wasn't yesterday, may or may not be today. We can't say for sure when the day is. So we need to be ready. Our text is telling us to be ready.
To that end, the Apostle considers lessons from history to be appropriate. Paul tells of events from the history of the people of God; in particular, examples of God's judgment on past generations because of their sin. That God had been faithful to them, that he brought them through the Red Sea, fed them with the Manna, quenched their thirst by water that flowed from a rock and all those things pointed them to Christ. And they were members of Christ. This is Paul's point: they were believers. They were the Old Testament people of God.
And even though they were God's people, even though they had received these blessings and were people of faith, when temptations came they indulged; some to idol worship, some to sexual sins, some to grumbling and complaining. And because of their sin God punished them. God punished some by means of a plague, others were punished by means of deadly snakes, still others were killed by “the destroyer” (a reference to the angel of death or perhaps even a reference to Satan).
So Paul walks the Corinthians through these bits of history, and then he makes his point. These things happened to them as an example or a lesson, but they were written down for us so that we upon whom the end of the ages has come, could also receive instruction.
There are two important things to take away from this text. The first is the end of the ages has come. We have been talking about this, we are all probably aware of this to some extent or another, but along those lines there is something to keep in mind. We have been in the end of the ages for the last 2000 or so years. Paul wrote this to first century Christians living in the city of first century Corinth. They, way back then, were in the end of the ages. They experienced earthquakes and weather patterns and lunatic governments. These things are not new. They are, rather, as Jesus puts it, the beginnings of the birth pangs. We should not waste too much time getting excited over stuff we read about in the news papers.
Instead, rather than trying to pin point the day and the hour on our daily planners, we should take a clue from Paul as he gives it here in our text and learn the lesson from history. Learn from the Israelites. They were believers in God. Through the water in the rock and the Red Sea, they were baptized into Christ. Granted their baptism was in leu of what was still to come and our is based on thing that have now come, but in a very real way they were very similar to us. And for them, when they wandered from God's law into apostasy, they were punished.
“Therefore” writes Paul, “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Don't get cocky! Don't assume that you have sewed up your salvation and its in the bag. Don't make the mistake of believing that you can't fall away, that temptation won't hurt you, that you can dabble in all kinds of sin and come away unscathed. You will find yourself in trouble. You will find yourself at the mercy of an angry God who judges sin and condemns sinners.
So the first lesson to learn is that the end of the ages has come. The second lesson to learn is a lesson from history. Be mindful of history. Be mindful of what God has done and what has been written down for us in Biblical History. God has given these things, not just as stories, not just as children's books and fairy tales. These things are true historical events, and God inspired them to be written down for our learning.
Today marks the beginning in our day school of National Lutheran Schools Week. Those of you who have children in the school are likely already aware of this. There are memos that have gone home about silly hat day, and dress up day and mismatch day and all of that sort of thing.
And while dressing up (or down) is fun, that is far from the point of why we have national Lutheran school week. That is far from the reason of why it is important to recognize our Lutheran Schools.
Our Lutheran Schools are a gift and a blessing from God. All throughout the country there are hundreds and even thousands of Lutheran Schools. These are schools that teach all the academic disciplines excellently, just as our own Lutheran school does here. But beyond being a place to learn to read and write, our National Lutheran Schools are places where these stories of history are important. These biblical events are lifted up. They are studied. They are discussed. They are mined for wisdom because God has given them to us for our learning.
And these lessons are of great importance for our children. Today, our children who are growing up and living in today's world need a place where they can be taught the Word of God. The temptations that our children are facing today are as great as they have ever been. Paul mentions temptations to idolatry. Today false religions like Buddhism, neo-paganism, even atheism have taken root in our popular culture. These false religions have even invaded the Christian and they are taught in some churches along side Christianity.
Paul mentions sexual immorality. These days Christian churches have sanctioned all kinds of sexual and sinful behaviors as being a part of God's plan and design for his people.
Paul mentions grumbling against God and which one of us hasn't complained that God hasn't done for us what we would demand, who hasn't given to us what we expect, who hasn't demanded that any god that we would worship had better meet our felt needs and live up to our demands.
We are on the verge of destruction. Our church, our world, our culture is primed for death and disease and snakes and every kind of evil because of how far we have fallen.
So the deck is stacked against us... and against our children. Wouldn't you agree? Between our sin and the temptations in the world around us and the judgments of God, we are guilty and we are in serious danger.
So in our Lutheran School we study the Word of God and the history it presents. But all of that history wouldn't do us any good if it weren't for one even in particular. All of those stories, all of those events, if it were not for one event would do nothing but condemn us and send us to hell. \
The one piece of history that is of greatest importance for us to learn, to study, to be reminded of every day is the death and resurrection of Jesus. The fact that God himself entered our world to take from us our sin and suffer for it, die for it and then be raised again from the dead so that we who believe this event happened, and more importantly, we who believe this event happened for us, might be receive from God the promise of eternal life. There is no greater lesson to learn and our own Lutheran School teaches that lesson to our children every day.
Paul puts it this way. In our text he writes, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.”
We have listed off a lot of temptations, a lot of potential pit falls, a lot of places where we could go wrong. And often when we begin to examine these temptations and look at these sins our response is one of fear. To tell ourselves that we'd better get it just right or else.
So far we have mentioned two things that our text has taught us: the end of the ages, the need to learn from history so that we don't repeat it. But there is a third lesson. A more imporant lesson. In fact, the most important lesson. And that is the lesson of God's faithfulness.
God is faithful. When we find ourselves in the midst of temptation. When we find ourselves battling it out with the world around us. When we find ourselves floundering and about to fall. God is faithful.
When we are overwhelmed by the world, when we are overwhelmed by satan. When we are overwhelmed by our own history of failures and defeats. God is faithful. God is always faithful.
God sees your struggle. God is acutely aware of your struggle. God knows your strength and your weakness better than you do. God won't let you fall. God won't let you break. As you fight the good fight God strengthens your hands, God strengthens your knees. God provides the way of escape so that your temptations do not take you under.
And even when they do. Even when your weakness gets the better of you, he is still faithful. Even when we have not deserved his faithfulness and have turned away from it, he himself has died for us. He has forgiven us he has cleansed us. He has rescued us.
There are important lessons from history for us to learn. God would have us know and remember all that he has done. God would have us remember his wrath and punishment for sin. But more than that He would have us remember his grace and forgiveness, his love and his faithfulness.
Amen.

Lent 2

In the history of the people of God, the city of Jerusalem was a grand and storied city. While its history goes back to the time of Abraham, during the reign of David it was inhabited by the Jebusites. David conquered Jerusalem and turned it into the capitol city of the nation of Israel. Once Jerusalem was captured David built for himself a palace and his son Solomon built for the Lord a temple. The city of Jerusalem became a symbol for the Jews of their nation, but also of their faith. It has been called to Holy City because it was there that the Jews went for the feasts and festivals that God had given to them, it was to Jerusalem that the Jews went for fellowship with the Lord.
Yet in spite God's continued faithfulness to the descendants of Abraham, and in spite the fact that God actually established a dwelling place on earth in the Jerusalem Temple, the Israelites were faithless. They turned their backs on the Lord who lived among them and they insisted on following the ways of their pagan neighbors. The Jews conquered the Jebusites and claimed their city, and while they expelled the people, as time wore on they invited their gods to return. The Jews worshiped the false gods of their pagan neighbors.
The idol worship of the Israelites caused God no end of grief and sadness. God wanted the hearts of his people to return to him. So he sent prophets, men like Jeremiah from our Old Testament text, to warn the Jews of the consequences of their idolatry. False gods would offer no protection from their enemies. False gods do not have the ability to save. Jeremiah approached God's people with all the words God had commanded him to say, but they would not listen.
Our reading tells us the even the priests and the prophets, the people who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders and in tune with God's Word actually were the leaders in the rejection of God's message. All together they gathered around Jeremiah and they grabbed hold of him and they wanted to kill him.
“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”
It is ironic, isn't it? God called on them to repent. God called on them to turn away from sin. Not because God hated them. It wasn't because he wanted to spoil their fun. God sent prophets to his people because he loved them. He didn't want to punish them. God wanted them to repent of their sin and return to him. Instead they rejected God's messenger. They were angry with the man who brought God's Word to them. They plotted violence against Jeremiah and virtually every other prophet when they came with a warning of God's punishment, but the message wasn't just punishment. The message was God's plea that they return to him and that they be restored to him.
There are many parents who understand this grief and sadness from their experience with wayward children. From time to time and for whatever reason a son or a daughter will decide they have their wild oats to sow and they will turn away from the family that loves them. Instead of the fulfilled life filled with love and comfort from their family they will insist on an empty life filled with the worst things the world has to offer. Parents will beg and plead, they will condemn the destructive behaviors. They will invite their child to return. For whatever reason, often that child just will not. That hurts. For parents who want only the best for their children, when they see that their child has chosen the things that hurt them and abandoned the things that help them, parents feel grief.
In the same way, Jesus felt grief. Grief for his wayward children. The nation he built from the descendants of Abraham, the people he gathered to himself when he rescued them from slavery, the home he built among them in the city of Jerusalem.. He sent his invitations to return, He sent His prophets to bring His Word, but they just wouldn't come. Instead his prophets were abused and even murdered. In our Gospel text we hear the words of Jesus, “How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not.”
As we consider the actions of the Israelites and the response of Jesus, there are two things for us to consider. Comfort at the love and the action of Jesus, but also warning.
It is easy for us to see that the Jews were wrong. They rejected God. They murdered his prophets. They even murdered his son. They were evil, idolatrous, and violent. But let me ask you: do you think this change happened over night? Do you think that one night they all went to bed as faithful servants of the Lord and then the next morning woke up idolatrous murderers? Or do you think it happened gradually? Over weeks and years, over the span of a generation? A compromise here, an excuse there? I know idol worship is wrong, but I don't want to be rude. My friend invited me to go with him to his temple. I'll just try it out this once. It won't hurt anything. And so it goes... Overlooking a sin here, a false teaching there, a little concession to evil. And all of a sudden, before you know it, faithful servants of God have become servants of false gods, pagans and unbelievers.
And here's the next question: Are we so naïve to believe this will not also happen to us?
I think sometimes we are. I think sometimes we believe, sometimes we take it for granted that God is on our side. We tell ourselves that we can't fall, that we won't fall. “I'm a Christian. I grew up in a in a Christian home. My parents were Christians. I went to Lutheran School. I belong to a church.” We think that lets us off the hook. We think that makes us immune from sin and error. We think that as long as we hold on to those things we can say and do and think and believe anything that we want.
It's not true. It never has been. It never will be. This is a sin that has made us all guilty. We all need to repent, every last one of us. We all need to search our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to point out this sin so that we can confess it and turn away from it – spiritual pride. Spiritual laziness. Acceptance of a self-defined status quo.
So our text issues a warning. But it also provides for us great comfort. There are two things that comfort us.
The first is this. Jesus weeps over his city. He speaks of gathering his people to him for protection as a hen gathers her brood. This should sound familiar. The same image, the same metaphor was used last week in our text from Psalm 91. The psalm said that God would gather us under his wing and cover us with his feathers.
God wants to draw us all to himself where he can offer us love and protection. He wants to cover us. He wants to save us and offer us salvation. The day is coming when it will be too late, but that day has not yet come. There is still time. Still time to repent. Still time to be gathered. Still time to receive God's love and forgiveness.
The last day, judgment day, the day of resurrection has not yet come. It's not because God is late or slow or caught up doing other things. Instead he is loving. He is patient and he is waiting for sinners to repent, to turn from their sin and be forgiven. There is still time.
That's the first comfort. Here's the second: notice how committed Jesus is to fulfilling his mission. In our text Jesus was warned by some pharisees that Herod had in mind to arrest Jesus. For you and me, a message like this might turn on our “self preservation” instincts. IT might make us feel the need to run away and save ourselves from judgment and suffering and even death.
Not Jesus. He has no fear of earthly power and authority. He calls Herod a “fox”. He defies Herod's power and authority. He sets his own agenda – Today and tomorrow and the next day I am going to cast out demons. I am going to heal the sick. And then, when I am done, then I will go on my way. And Herod can't touch me.
Jesus knew where he was going. He knew what he was doing. He had his plan set in motion and no one could stand in his way and no one could keep him from accomplishing it. Not the Pharisees and scribes, not Herod, not even Satan.
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem – that Holy city that had received so much... so many blessings and had turned their back on all of them. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, the city he made holy when he built his temple there. Jerusalem was a city of sacrifice, a city where sinners could go to receive forgiveness because it was a city where sin was exchanged for the death of a substitute. Jesus came to be that substitute. The stand in, the go between for you and for me. Jesus came to be sacrifice for you and for me for all time.
Jesus went to Jerusalem, the Holy City, the city of sacrifice so that he could be the sacrifice. He went to be the one sacrifice, the one death that would take the place of all others. Jesus went to Jerusalem so that sinners could be holy.
Sinners used to go the Jerusalem the Holy City, the city of holiness because that was the city of God's presence. Jerusalem was the place where sinners would go to exchange their sin for God's holiness. They would come to the city, come to the temple, participate in the temple rites and go home as God's forgiven and holy people. God's holiness was given out when God people met with him at the temple.
But then Jesus went to the Holy City. He went as the sacrifice. He went to offer himself on the altar of the cross. The one sacrifice to end all sacrifices. So that sinners themselves could be holy.
Friends because of what Jesus has done for us we don't need a plane ticket to Jerusalem and a visit to the temple to be holy. God has made us holy in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God has even said that we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
The blood of goats isn't needed, trip across the ocean to the Holy City are needed. God has given to us his forgiveness right here. God has made us his children right here. Our sin is forgiven.
Amen.

Lent 1 Psalm 92

Text: Psalm 91
The Devil came to Jesus intent on His destruction. IT was not the first time that the devil had set his sights on destroying a man. There had been hundreds, thousands, even millions before. But the first time had been of greatest importance. The first time it was a man named Adam. And for a man created to be perfect he was pretty easy prey. Adam went down, and with him fell the entire human race - you and me included.
But then came the new Adam, the Second Adam, the new creation. A man born from a woman, but not having a human father – this man Jesus. This man spelled trouble for this old tempter, this old devil. Because, where Adam was supposed to have been perfect but was easily tempted and led into sin, this second Adam was a much more difficult case. He was greater, more powerful. This second man was none other than the Son of God, God himself in Human flesh. But still, the Devil took aim. If he could get this Jesus to sin, the entire human race wouldn't have a chance.
And the devil came. He comes to you just the same. He came to Jesus when he was weak, when he was tired, he had just been through an ordeal – a 40 day fast in the wilderness, he was hungry and he needed some rest. The devil always takes advantage of those most opportune moments. He came and he wrestled with Jesus. “Throw yourself down from the temple.” “Make stones into bread.” “Surrender yourself to me and I will give you power.” Great opportunities for a quick fix on power and glory – always sure bets for this tempter. Everyone wants power and glory. Every one wants to get it on the cheap. But not Jesus. You and I would have fallen for it in seconds flat. But Jesus resisted. It took everything he had, but Jesus resisted the devil and he did it for you.
Now, look at the Gospel reading, and then go back and look at our text – the Psalm for the day. The psalm actually shows up in our Gospel text – but in an unusual place. The words of scripture, the very Word of God is used as a tool of Satan. His slippery double-tongue utters these golden words of promise as a means for evil. (Isn't it true that the devil always masquerades as a servant of the Light?)
“Throw yourself down from the temple,” said Satan, “for isn't it written that 'he will command his angels concerning you so that you will not strike your foot against a stone'?”
And yes, it is written. Indeed our Psalm says that very thing. God will send his angels to protect us, to pick us up so that we might not even stub our toes. And there are times that he does.
A steel worker working on the beams of a high-rise office building once stumbled and began to fall from several stories up but felt himself being caught and lifted. He looked and saw a face. God sent an angel to protect the man and to keep him safe so that he did not fall and injure himself. God does truly send his angels to do his work of caring for His saints. Most of the time we don't even know they are there. Sometimes, like this time, God lets us see them.
But does that mean we should test Him? Should we do as the devil urged Jesus to do? Should we force God to choose? Rescue us or let us die? God cares for us according to His mercy, not according to our coercion, and He does so for our salvation and not for our selfish designs of earthly glory. Satan was playing games with the Word of God. Satan was turning God's Word of promise into a magic spell to manipulate God.
Jesus didn't fall for it. Neither should you.
Instead, Jesus tied himself to the rest of the Psalm. Jesus devoted himself wholly and completely to the promise that God is “My Refuge and My Fortress”, The Lord is “My God in whom I trust.” Likewise, so should you.
Our Psalm begins, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will Abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.”
Our Epistle Text from Romans helps us to properly understand what it means to “dwell in the shelter of the Most High and to abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Romans 10 says that “The Word is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” It then goes on to make the promise that if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart you will be saved.
It is the Word. The Word of God. It is the Word of God that is our lifeblood as Christians. The Word of God, when we confess it, that is to say, when we believe God and take Him at His Word we are saved. Therefore it is the Word that is the very voice and power of God. It takes hold in our hearts and creates believers out of us.
Today in our worship we celebrate with those who are joining our fellowship of faith. God has hidden His Word in their hearts and they are standing up confessing with their mouths the faith that God put there in their hearts. God has come near to them, just as he has come near to the rest of us, and through His Word and in His Word they dwell with us together in His shelter and we abide together in His shadow. And there is no better place to be.
After all, God's Word promises God's protection. We return to our Psalm...
Psalm 91 gives to us the assurance that God will protect us from all different kinds of calamities and disasters. It offers a few examples.
Back in the days of King David, arrows were cutting edge military technology. An archers could take out an enemy from a safe distance, at times even unknown and unseen. The message then, God can keep you safe from military enemies who have powerful and high tech weapons.
The world is suddenly alarmed because Iran is edging closer and closer to possessing nuclear weapons. Neighboring countries are afraid of the sudden threat within their borders. That threat could even spill over into our own country. Not to worry. God can protect you from an extreme Islamic nation, even from a terrorist with a nuclear weapon.
The psalm also mentions plagues and pestilence. A few months ago we were repeatedly warned of the threat of the h1n1 virus. It was supposed to be a super bug that would be hard to fight and that would claim the lives of hundreds. Before the swine flu it was the bird flu. Who knows what flu or what other disease will pose the next great threat to public health. It could turn out to be nothing. It could match the hype and kill thousands. It doesn't matter. God can protect you from the deadliest of diseases.
Car crashes. Cancer. Change. The Future. Taxes. Earthquakes. The weather. The unknown. The dark. Death. Financial collapse. People are afraid of all kinds of things. Your God is god over all of them. He can and will protect you from all of these things and from any one of them.
“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent.”
“No evil...”
In the Lord's prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “deliver us from evil”. In that prayer we ask God to save us from all of those things we just listed, but especially we ask God to save us from the Evil One. We ask God to save us from the Devil. As much as we fear so many other things in this world and in this life, there is one enemy who is chief above all other enemies. There is the devil. He sets traps for us to destroy us. He tempts us and urges us to look to our own power and glory, to indulge our lusts and passions, to set aside the true God and replace him with a false god of our own making.
As we have said, this foe, this enemy is too great for us to defeat, too powerful for us to battle, too sneaky and sly for us to out smart. He sets traps for us that we too easily fall into. If Adam who was perfect and without sin couldn't do it, then what chance do we have? Adam was like a champion, a prize fighter, a hero, and Satan took him down with his first try. What chance do we have?
I used to visit with a shut in who would tell about her battles with (as she put it) “that nasty old devil”. He wouldn't leave her alone. He was always pestering her. She would fight him off by singing hymns. I would hear her voice, singing at the top of her lungs as I came down the hallway in her nursing home.
I talked to another man on his death bed and he confessed, in fear, the temptations he faced as the devil did his best to take him down before his time was up.
In both cases God was faithful. He saved them and he preserved them with His mighty hand and his outstretched arm.
Our God, whom you confess and in whom you dwell has just the remedy for you. You who confess His Word and live in His shadow. As the Psalm says, “He will deliver you from the snare of the Fowler. He will cover you with his wings.”
God is like a mother goose defending her goslings. When they sense some danger, they will gather them all together under their wing to defend them and keep them safe. And then if the danger persists she will shield them even with her own body. She will risk her own injury rather than allowing you to harm one of her young.
That is how God protects you. He snatches you away from the devil when he would trap you and then when the devil persists when he refuses to give up and even would claim you as his own, pointing out your many sins and those times that you were caught by his snares and you gave in to his temptations, like a mother goose, the Lord your God, the Most High who is your refuge shields you, even with His own body.
The Lord is a spirit. As such He did not have a body. So he went out and got one so He could shield you with it. He joined himself to us, to our race, to our flesh and blood so that he could use His body as the in-between thing. So He could place His body into harms way, so He could surrender His body to injury and death, so He could take your punishment and your could be saved.
In our Gospel text we see him battling it out with Satan, fighting off his temptations and standing firm the way you and I have not, the way even Adam could not. And He won. Every single time; without exception. The devil went away beaten. Jesus did what we could not do. And then He did what was needed so that we could be saved, so that we could be snatched out of the devil's trap and set free from the destruction that he had planned to bring us to .
God has saved us. God has defended us and protected us. Through faith we live and abide so close to our God that we are covered by his shadow. You and I can say to the Lord together with the Psalm, “My Refuge and My fortress. My God in Whom I trust.”

Epiphany 4

“Authority” is a dirty word. We don't like it. We don't trust it. We don't want to have anything to do with it.
You just have to say the word and It makes us think thoughts of domination. Oppression. Even lies & mistrust. If I were to yell out, “The authorities are coming.” and our first instinct would be to run away. At the very lest it might raise our blood pressure a bit.
We don't like authority. We don't trust those who have it or those who want it. We all have a natural impulse to get out from under someone else's authority. For the most part, we think of authority as something to be feared and something to be avoided.
How strange then that the thing setting apart our savior, as He begins his ministry of teaching, is that he does so “with authority”. In our text, the people remark that Jesus is not like the other teachers. He is not like the scribes, the pharisees, the temple rulers. Jesus is a teacher, for that matter, Jesus is a god who has authority.
And for you and me, we have a problem with authority.
We would like to say that it's not our fault. We would like to say that we can't help it, that we are victims of our environment and culture. After all, nobody likes authority. Nobody likes to be told what to do. This past week, President Obama gave his state of the union address. How many of you liked what he had to say? Likely there are those of you who did not. Perhaps you did not trust him, perhaps you thought him to be disingenuous in his words. And for those did like the speech and do approve of the president, the chances are good that you did not trust the words of our previous president. Maybe you don't trust any president. It would be only natural. After all, we don't like authority. We call police officers pigs. We call our Fathers “the old man”, we call our spouses “the old ball and chain”. We call our employers, we call corporate America “the Man”. Meanwhile we celebrate those who disobey authority. We think of them as heroes. The movie Avatar, the highest grossing movie ever that has already won a golden globe and is favored for an Oscar is about a soldier who breaks rank with the military in order to fight on the side of the native people of a far away world. The soldier who disobeys authority is the hero! The guy we are supposed to root for. Even the guy the film portrays on the moral high road. Yes. You and me, every single person on the planet – we've got a problem with authority. And that means, we've got a problem with Jesus.
We've got a problem with Jesus because Jesus has authority. When Jesus came, he came with authority. Everyone realized it and everyone knew it. The crowds knew it. They said as much in our text - “what is this teaching? Where does it come from? This guy has words we haven't heard before and we are perplexed by it because these word are words of authority.”
the disciples also realized it. After all, when He commanded them to leave behind their entire lives – everything; their families, their jobs, their homes, their plans, their past and their future – they did. Jesus commanded them to follow and they get up and they followed.
The pharisees realized it. After all, they perceived him to be a threat to their own authority. They were set off guard. They were uncomfortable with his authority, they even came to despise his authority. So much that they plotted to get rid of him and his authority.
Even the devils and demons recognized his authority. When Jesus commanded them to leave those they possessed, when Jesus commanded them to shut up and be silent, they obeyed. At Jesus' command, they released those they had enslaved, without even a scratch.
And so Jesus, the Son of God, came with God's authority. And the world did what the world has always done – they cut him down. Isn't that what you are supposed to do? Isn't that what we believe? Kingdoms are made to topple. Rules are meant to be broken, authorities are meant to be challenged. And so Jesus the Son of God who came with God's authority to bring near God's kingdom was crucified. He was arrested, beaten, stripped naked and shamed so that the world could show him who's boss.
But there was a fly in that ointment, a fatal flaw in the plan. There was a rule in the game that they hadn't quite counted on. This one who came with authority, this one they did not understand and could not comprehend – his authority was not just over the living. His authority extended even into death. The had forgotten, perhaps they never knew; that this one whom they hated and despised and killed, this one who possessed such authority would come as the judge; and not just of the living but also of the dead.
You see, death is final for us, for us it is the end, for us it is the great equalizer and the final arbiter of justice. But not for him. He was Lord and not just of the living he was Lord even of the dead. When he was alive, he could command even death to set free those it had taken captive. A widow's son, a little girls, even his friend Lazarus, Jesus set them free from death. And then, when he himself was killed, when he was nailed to a cross and died and placed in a tomb he was still Lord. And he proved it. He demonstrated his authority even over death when he was raised to life three days later. Death could not hold him because he held the keys to death and hell.
And so he rose – victorious. Victorious over death and the grave, over Satan and hell, over all our earthly and eternal enemies. And he said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. All authority. Authority in heaven. Authority on earth. Even authority in hell. There is nowhere that our Jesus is not lord. And believe me, that is a good message.
Because while you and I are running around wasting our time waging war against the authority of Jesus, telling ourselves that we are our own masters, that no one can tell us what to do, he has made himself busy turning His authority into our advantage. Jesus the Lord of life and death, the Lord of Heaven and earth and even hell, has used his authority to command those things that hold us captive.
We are captive to sickness. These days our world has made so many great advancements in medicine and medical technology. Illnesses that only 50 years ago would have meant certain death are today easily cured. Yet in spite of this great knowledge and wealth of information and technology and in spite of this great ability to heal, people die every day from diseases and illnesses where doctors simply throw up their hands and admit there is nothing they can do. Yet in our text, Jesus who has authority commands those illnesses, no matter what they are and how debilitating they may be, He commands them to release the ones they held captive... and the diseases, every last one of them, was no match for Jesus. Sickness and disease obey the authority of Jesus.
We are captive to this world. Earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, snow storms, floods, drought, famine, extremes of cold or heat; we are enslaved to these things. In spite of the foolish and idolatrous hearts of men that believe we can change the climate and kill the planet with our smokestacks and suv's, the truth is that we don't control the planet, the planet isn't enslaved to us. Rather we are enslaved to it. We are at it's mercy. We can't stop a hurricane from forming and flooding our cities and blowing apart our way of life. Nor can we stop an earthquake from shaking us down and breaking us apart. But God can. Jesus has authority over such events. Jesus has the authority to stop and the authority to start them. The world obeys the authority of Jesus.
Jesus also has authority over the devil. Try as we might, we do not have the authority to free ourselves from the spiritual strangle hold of the devil. Popular story tellers would tell us that we can defeat the devil with purity of heart or strength of hand. That we can thwart his plans and ruin his designs. But we cannot. We are powerless to get ourselves free from his grip. But the devil responds to the commands of Jesus. The devil obeys the authority of Jesus.
We can do none of these things. But Jesus can. Jesus has authority over all these things. He commands sickness and disease, he commands blindness, leprosy, viruses & bacteria, cancer, he commands broken bones to be healed and all of these illnesses and afflictions obey. They release those they hold captive and they set free their prisoners.
Likewise with the earth and the world around us. Jesus commands the winds. He commands the waves. He commands the movements of the oceans and the shifting of tectonic plates. And finally Jesus commands Satan and all his evil angels. He has authority over the powers of hell who would trap you and possess you and tear you apart.
And Jesus uses this authority for you. He uses this authority to set you free. To undo the bonds that hold you and release you from the grip of those things that would destroy you.
Of all of your enemies and all of your foes, the worst by far is death. Sin has destroyed this world and made a mess of God's good universe but sickness, disease, earthquakes and storms are the least of your worries. Your greatest enemy is death, because in death you receive the judgment of God. In death you are face to face with the your maker. It is dangerous for sinners to fall into the hands of an angry God.
So Jesus set you free,. Exercising all his power, all his might and all his authority he carried the full load of death's judgment on his own shoulders. He carried the punishment for the whole world when he died in your place for your sin on your cross. Jesus died your death and so now you are set free. Just as he commanded illness, and evil to release their captives so also he has commanded death to let you go. You are free. Free from death, free from judgment free from condemnation, free from sin. The doors to your prison have been flung wide open. Faith alone seizes the opportunity to walk through and be free.
And Jesus has given you that faith. He has accomplished your freedom and he has given you the gift to believe. There is nothing that holds you that Jesus cannot command. Live in the joy of your freedom.
Amen.

Advent 4

There is nothing quite like the joy and the anticipation of an expectant mother. Mom's to be, sporting their little “baby bump” get stopped in public all the time to be asked questions like “when are you due?” “How are you feeling?” “is it a boy or a girl?” and many other such questions. People love babies. People love it when a young woman is getting ready to be introduced to the joys of motherhood and are eager to share in that joy with her.
We all love children. We love babies. And it's not just because they're cute. Sure their little hands and feet and pudgy little faces are indeed cute, but there's more to it than that. We love them for who they are and we are excited for who they will be. After all, each and every new parent dreams about how their child is going to make a splash and change the world with her athletic prowess or intelligence or grace. When it comes to our children, we all have hopes and dreams about who we want them to grow up to be.
But this joy and this hope and this expectation, it's all about possibility. It is all about who the child will become. Yes, we love our children regardless of their ability, but we hope for earth-shattering achievement from our children. We invest ourselves in them for who we want them to be. We want them to grow, to learn, to mature, and one day to be self sustaining and self functioning adults. Implicit in our hope is an understanding that the child who is born is not the finished product, but is the first step in becoming a finished product.
This being the case (that part of our excitement for our kids is all about who they are going to be) we have to notice just how different this is with Jesus. Yes, Mary was pregnant and she shared in that hope and joy and expectation for the life of her son who she carried in her womb. But there was also a recognition that this boy was not just about possibility, not just about future accomplishments, not just about who he would grow up to be; the growing and developing Child in Mary's womb was her God who made her and who loved her and who was going to save her and the whole world from sin.
Try wrapping your head around that. These days child psychologists have mapped out the brain function of infants even during pregnancy. They can tell you what the child is capable of knowing and understanding even while the child is still in the womb – and it's pretty minimal. They can recognize voices, and sounds but as far as knowing who that voice belongs to and why that voice is important? Not so much. And even when they are born, infants are completely dependent on their parents, on their mothers. They need their mothers for food, they make a mess of themselves and need their clothes to be changed, they can't talk, can't reason, they can barely even see.
But all of that being the case, when Mary with the Christ Child still in her womb went to visit her relative Elizabeth, to help and assist her aged kin during her pregnancy, Elizabeth acknowledged in faith that the baby developing in Mary's womb was her Lord. She said, “Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” The infant, the little developing child was worth excitement and hope and expectation, but not just because of who he would one day become. This baby was even then her Lord. He was God in the flesh, come to earth to save them from sin.
In our text this morning we have two expectant mothers, gathering together and sharing in the joys of their pregnancies. Both moms and moms-to-be love to share that joy with each other. They love to swap stories and be a part of each others' excitement. Moms (and dads) love their babies, their children. But I wonder if we don't, at times, love our children a little too much. I wonder if we don't at times love them with a love that we aught to reserve only for God.
Consider as an example the retail chain Baby's R Us. Expecting moms and dads go in to that store to register for all kinds of baby paraphernalia, much of which is expensive, more than they can afford, really, because they want their child to have what is the best.
If my child is going to have every opportunity, if my child is one day going to have to choose between the full-ride football scholarship to Ohio State or the full ride academic scholarship to Harvard, it's going to start right here with this state of the art diaper disposal system. And so parents pay the money.
Parents spend insane amounts of money on un-necessary baby products because they are convinced that they added expense is all a part of giving their child the best of every opportunity. Whether or not we have a diaper genie, how many of us have overlooked our child's obvious sins because we think of them as “little angels”. We love our children and that is good, but our love for our children often becomes a love that we aught to reserve only for God. This is sin that demands repentance.

But consider these two women discussing their pregnancies together just outside Elizabeth's home on that day. Elizabeth was old, beyond child bearing years. And even when she could have had children her body was incapable of producing a child. She was barren, unable to conceive. The child in her womb was improbable to say the least. More like unthinkable, unimaginable, or impossible! Yet here she was in her old age pregnant and preparing to deliver. Do you think Elizabeth might have been tempted to love her child too much, to hold on to him too tightly after having waited so long?
And then there was Mary. If Elizabeth's pregnancy was unlikely, Mary's was entirely impossible. Women don't just all of a sudden become pregnant. There is biology involved. There is a process that needs to occur. There needs to be a father, a seed, a man to provide the other half of the necessary ingredients. There was none. Mary was a virgin.
And so we had in these two women, life out of death in one, and life out of nothing in the other. Both were miraculous. Both were evidence of the hand of God. God had come in to his creation to do things that don't normally occur because all of this was a part of his great plan for our salvation.
As greatly as these two women would have been tempted to sins of pride and idolatry with their respective pregnancies, here in our text we don't see it. That is not to say that they didn't feel it, that they were innocent of these sins. It is to say that Luke would rather have us focus not on the mothers but on the sons; and among the two baby boys still in their mothers' womb, Luke would have us see and understand that the foremost Child is the Christ child, the baby in the womb of the virgin.
Old Testament Jews would have shown reverence when the Ark of Covenant passed by them. Not because there was anything of great importance in the Ark, itself. It was, after all, only a box. But the box was God's box. It was God's throne and where the Ark was, there God was. Just as the Ark of the Covenant was the vessel that carried the Lord, so also Mary was the vessel that carried the Lord. “Behold,” Mary had said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be to me as you have said.” And the Word of the Lord created in Mary exactly what it said, a child was conceived in her, a baby who was Christ the Lord. He had come down from heaven and made his home with Mary.
And so when Mary, the God bearer, came in to the home of Elizabeth, she understood this properly to be the entrance of the Lord, very literally, into her life. God was with her. And so she worshiped.
Our text says that she exclaimed. True enough, but not quite the whole story. An exclamation is little more than excitement. There are lots of reasons why we might be moved to exclaim. Our school children let out an exclamation after they finished their last day before Christmas break on Friday. They teachers also let out an exclamation of their own. Christmas morning might inspire an exclamation or two at your house – hopefully one from you.
Elizabeth, when she made her exclamation was not merely expressing joy or even excitement. Elizabeth was engaged in worship. The text says that Elizabeth anefwnhsen This is a worship term. A term that the Old Testament uses in connection with the liturgical ceremonies having to do with the Ark of the Covenant. Mary was the bearer of God, as God drew near, Elizabeth, being filled with the Holy Spirit began to worship.
And she was not alone. The child in her womb, the miraculously conceived prophet to be, the infant John leaped in his mother's womb; an indication of the relationship that the two of them would share as they came into adulthood. John would preach and make ready the way for Jesus to come.
But Elizabeth and John were not the only ones to worship Jesus. On the night of his birth, all of heaven would be filled with the singing of angel choirs who were celebrating and worshiping this child. They would share their song with shepherds who would run into the town of Bethlehem to see if what they said was true. The shepherds would join their voices with the angels in songs of praise to God. (We have all had songs and melodies stick in our heads so that we hum them without even realizing it – imagine if the melody stuck in your head was first heard on the tongue of an angel...)
But there were others...
At the temple, when Mary and Joseph brought their 8 day old son for circumcision they would be met by Simeon and Anna, both of whom would worship the boy. A few years past and the magi would come with kingly gifts to lay before him as they would bow down to worship him as their God and king.
But even they were not alone. Fishermen would call him Lord and God, those who doubted him would confess him as King. The blind, the lame, the sick, the sinners, the broken and despised, the lepers, the outcasts, the unclean, the demon possessed, all would fall down before him and worship him as their God and king. All would believe him to be who he said he was – the Messiah, the Son of God who came to seek and to save what was lost.
And this God, the baby carried in the womb of a virgin, born in a barn and laid in a manger, worshiped by angels and shepherds and sinners would be your Lord. He would save you from your sin so that you might also rejoice and exclaim and worship. He has come, to die, for you. He has paid for your sins, all of them, so that you might no longer call sin or Satan your lord. Jesus is God, the baby in the womb, in the manger, the man on the cross, is your Lord. Worship Him.