Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Philippians 4:4-7; St John 1:19-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Getting into the hearts of stubborn man is a dangerous mission. A treacherous one, full of difficulty. Some might even say its impossible. Jeremiah opined, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jer 17:9) But as we’ve learned with camels and needles, rich men and heaven, what is impossible for man is possible with God. God was determined. He had a plan. He made a promise. He was going to fulfill it.

So He sent His loyal soldier named John to go first. He was not the Christ. He was not Elijah. He was not the Prophet whom Moses proclaimed in our first reading. He was not the Light. He was just John. A dutiful servant of the Most High God. A witness, come to bear witness about the Light.

So he took his post out in the wilderness. Out there where Israel sojourned. Out where the Lord led them out of Egypt on the way. Where He provided and protected. Where He spoke and declared Himself to be their God and they His people. John was out there in the desert, among the shrubs and thorns, eating locusts and wild honey, to be the Voice. Simply the Voice. The Voice saying, Make straight the way of the Lord. That is the way into men’s hearts. God’s Word, the Voice, comes in through the ear. And He demands direct access. The Lord will not take a crooked route. He insists on a straight path. So He sends John.

But the self-righteous hearts of men will allow no direct or easy access. Called to love God above all, they are easily distracted with other loves. John was sent as the Voice, but men weren’t listening. The Pharisees heard his preaching. Those they sent to John, the delegation of priests and Levites, heard his preaching. Yet their hearts rejected the direct appeal of John. “Make straight the way to my heart? Why? The Lord already has my heart. I already believe rightly. I’ve said all the right things.”

But John knew better. He didn’t just listen to what they said. He watched what they did. For he knew that hearts are deceitful things and loves are not only spoken, but acted out. And so he saw what drove them. He saw what moved them and gave them delight in life. He saw what put a spring in their step. And it wasn’t the love of God at all.

In fact, they were like us. They may have said that God was their Rock, their Foundation, their Security. But in looking at their lives and how they lived, they were more like Scrooge. Always more concerned with their bottom line.

They may have said, “God gives my life meaning,” but then John looked and saw the way they lived; what they sacrificed for. He could see that they were more devoted to their kids and grandkids than God Himself.
They may have been considered “good guys” by others, but John listened to their conversations. Heard all the hate and gossip and criticism that came out. He could see they weren’t very godly at all.

John was a Voice trying to get men’s attention. Trying to stimulate their calloused consciences and stir up their minds. An apparently impossible mission. He must have felt like a wife talking to her husband who’s not really listening. You may have his physical presence, but because he’s not really listening his heart and mind are somewhere else at the moment.

The same Isaiah who prophesied the coming of the Voice also says, Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? (Is 53:1) Our Lord wants direct and total access to your heart. And He comes in through the ear; through preaching. But men have stopped up their ears and hardened their hearts. Often its like talking to a wall.

So how will God get direct access to men’s hearts? Especially after John is thrown in prison and the Voice is lost? Cut off, along with his head? How will God accomplish their impossible mission? When prophets are killed and preachers are silenced?

Remember that this was God’s plan laid out from before the foundation of the world. He would raise up the Prophet like Moses and put His Word in His mouth. As St Paul writes to the Thessalonians, May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and Word (2 Thess 2:16-17).

John did his part in the plan. He went before the Lord to prepare His way. Giving knowledge of salvation, through a baptism of repentance by the forgiveness of their sins. Now things would get really treacherous. God would send His Son. The same One John preached. The One whose sandal straps John was not worthy to loose. The One who is named Jesus and whose feet are the feet of God Almighty. The One who demands complete and total access to man’s heart and all of his devotion and love.

But when He came on the scene He was not like the voice at Mount Sinai that was so loud and so intimidating that it drove men away. Rather, He was a quiet voice. A merciful voice. His way is to forgive the idol-loving hearts of men. To speak His Word directly into their hearts by way of their ears about who He is and what He came to do.

For this little feet of the One born in the manger had one mission. His walk would always be in one direction. To the Cross. To die for idolatrous men. To reclaim the hearts and lives of His creation. To redeem us who can’t seem to detach ourselves from our idols and our false worship. He lived to walk to the Cross.

That was His focus. He was not distracted. He had no idols. His one and only love was to walk that way to the Cross. To be the Way for you. It was His love for the Father and for you that drove Him. He prayed to the Father, Not My will, but Yours be done (Lk 22:42). And this is the will of the Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life and be raised up on the Last Day (Jn 6:40).

Dear friends, this was His passion. This was His delight. This is what put a spring in His step - thinking about saving ungodly sinners from God’s wrath. For the joy set before Him He endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2). And so, ever since He was born, His holy feet were set for battle. To carry out God’s mission when it was even the most treacherous and would cost Him His life.

So His baby feet grew up to stand in the Jordan River and be baptized by the Forerunner and Voice and to be identified with stubborn hearted sinners forever. His feet grew up to stand and preach full and free forgiveness that would come through His death and give men new hearts. His feet would grow up to fall in the Garden of Gethsemane as He sweat Blood. His feet would go to Golgotha, were His sandal strap would be untied, and those beautiful feet would be nailed to the Cross and laid in a tomb.

But this soldier’s mission was not yet complete. Those feet would stand again in His Resurrection as He appeared to the disciples, speaking His Gospel of peace. Again, as Isaiah says, “Therefore My people shall know My name. Therefore in that day they shall know that is it I who speak; here I am.” How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Is 52:6-7)

As He breathed the Spirit on them, so does He do for you in and through His Word so that you may be granted new hearts through Holy Baptism and faith. In the Jordan of the font, He stood wth you, and by His Word gave Himself direct access to your heart. There He gave you a new one. One full of faith toward God and love toward one another. So that now, through Jesus, you have access to the Father’s heart. For you hear His Word of consolation, and in confidence, draw near to Him in prayer, your hearts free from anxiety, bringing your requests to Him.

Even more, you not only hear His Word, you also know His will. St Paul says is clearly to the Thessalonians: This is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3). That is, to make a clean break with all that would inhibit the coming of Christ. To stop trying to go your own way and prepare the way of the Lord that you may delight in His will and walk in His ways to the glory of His holy name.

That wives would submit to their husbands as to the Lord. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and died for her. Children, that you would obey your parents. That workers would serve wholeheartedly as if serving the Lord, not men. That widows put their hope in God. And that everyone, every baptized and believing Christian, would give thanks to the Lord with their whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

John was not the Christ. But Jesus is. And He completed the mission by dying and rising to impart new life in order that you may stand and rejoice at such benevolence. So that your feet might come to this altar and receive His Body given for you and His Blood shed for you. So that your feet might bear your crosses with confidence and gladness and in the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, which guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16; Romans 16:25-27; St Luke 1:26-38
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

The Emmanuel for whom we pray, whom we bid come and ransom us from our lonely exile, is a sign against Ahaz. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (Is 7:14). Indeed, He is a sign against all fallen men, beginning with Adam. That is not how we are used to hearing that verse, but it is true. The virginal conception of Jesus Christ is a sign against our impotence. Of our culpability of standing idly by while Eve is seduced.

We are sinful. This is true. But its more than that. Everything we conceive is full of sin. Even, saddest of all, our children. Everything we conceive dies. Our malice and our greed, our lust and violence are passed on to our children. And those sins kill them.

Three hundred years after King David had his plans to build a house for the Lord, King Ahaz hatched his plans too. He had good reason to be afraid for his life and for his country. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had allied with Syria, the enemies of God’s people. They would march on Jerusalem together. Brother was against brother and a pagan country was mixed in.

But Ahaz conceived of a strategy that would make a corrupt politician proud. He would play his enemies against one another. He would outsmart them. Ask a sign of the Lord your God, the prophet told him. But he would not ask God for a sign because he didn’t trust God to give what he needed. He didn’t need platitudes about trust and letting go. He figured that what he needed were real and pragmatic things. And God simply couldn’t be trusted to give him those things. The steel of Syria’s swords wasn’t imaginary. He wanted something tangible. So he refused a sign from God. He rejected God’s Word. And he rejected it because he didn’t want God to interfere with his plans.

But God grows weary of men who feign piety. Who rely on philosophy and man’s wisdom to excuse themselves for their lack of faith and for their evil deeds. He is weary of men who twist His Word to bring it in conformity with modern sensibilities. Those who dismiss His Word as meaningless and impractical fluff. God will not be mocked with our false theologies and excuses. Repentance is needed.

The spirit of Ahaz is still with us. We are still tempted to his pretend piety. Sadder still, the spirit of David is still with us. The dangerous inclination to do what is in our hearts and call it pious. “Did I ask you to build Me a house?” The Lord has to correct not only David, but Nathan too. If kings and prophets are called to repentance, what of Christians and pastors? There is a pretend piety for every sinful man ever born. A false theology inherent in all of us. One is not better than another. God won’t wink at yours or not mind it as much as another’s. Repent.

But also rejoice. That which David desires to build, that for which Ahaz would not ask, the Lord God established. He gave. And it was better than David or Ahaz, or even Abraham for that matter, could have imagine or hoped! God establishes the House and Throne of David to give His people rest; to open wide their heavenly home. He conceives a Son in the Virgin’s womb. Not only to rescue men from a pagan oppressor, a military conqueror and enslaver, but from the devil himself. He is Wisdom, Branch, Key and Dayspring for our salvation. But He is also a Sign against our impotence.

You see, dear friends, despite our lies, rebellion, and hatred, in contrast to our philosophy, false theologies and pragmatism, God is with us. Our Immanuel. The Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. The Child born is called holy - the Son of God. He has taken up our flesh. He wears our skin. He moves about with muscles, bones, and cartilage of a Man. He was conceived in one of us. He has a body like ours taken from the Virgin’s womb.

And like our bodies, His Body was bruised and dying. Indeed, He was conceived and born for the very purpose of being bruised and crucified.

He has a human soul as well, for He is an actual Man. His soul was composed for the purpose of being separated from His Body, that He endure physical death in our place and be set, Adam-like, dust to dust, into the ground. He is one of us, in life and in death. He is with us. He is Immanuel who lives our life and dies our death.

Here is a sign for Ahaz and we who are prone to think like him: the Lord has come in the Flesh, into this dreary and deadly plain, to join our cause. To make us His. To deliver us not just from the Assyrians, but from hell itself. In this way, by the sign that Ahaz refused, but was spoken to the Virgin Mary, He is our Savior and has meet the enemy’s attack in Himself. In dying, He has broken down the prison bars that held us in. Hell swallowed Him and can take no more. He bursts it like new wine in an old wineskin. In rising He has paved the way to heaven. For if He lived our life and died our death, so also has He risen our resurrection and ascended our ascension.

All this the Lord has done not because we asked or because we believed or had the facts and details right. Mary doesn’t conceived the Child in her womb because she choses to or decided. He does it because He is good and His mercy endureth forever. He gives signs to those who refuse. But also graciously enables Virgins to respond in faith, Let it be to me according to your Word. He lived our life. He died our death. He has instituted our resurrection and ascension. In this way He has elevated our nature to the Father’s right hand. For He is still our Emmanuel. He is still with us.

He is still and forever God. But what we seem prone to forget, though, is that even now, even after the resurrection and ascension, He is still and forever Man. He was born as a Man. Lived as a Man. Died as a Man. Rose as a Man. Ascended as a Man. As a Man He sits at the Father’s right hand, receiving the throne of His father David, and establishing an eternal kingdom.

And yet, He is still with us. Having fulfilled the Father’s will, establishing a House and Kingdom, He does not deny Himself His divine rights and attributes as a Man. So He is, as both true God and true Man, capable of more than one mode of presence. He can be there as a Man, yet also here, with us, as a Man. This is the mystery that was hidden for long ages, but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, as St Paul writes.

Behold, here is the Mystery - He is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, but He is also here, as both God and Man. There, as High Priest and Mediator. Here in His Body and Blood in Holy Communion. There as Advocate. Here in the Word. There pleading His precious Blood. Here in Holy Baptism. He is Jacob’s ladder. But we don’t climb up on Him to heaven. He brings heaven down to us.

And Ahaz, wherever he raises up his head, will not stop Him. This Sign - the Virgin shall conceived and bear a Son, our Immanuel, God with us - will not be stopped by vanity, violence, or lies. He has conquered sin and has conquered Ahaz as surely as He has conquered Assyria and Babylon.

All the children of God, all believers, are thus conceived. What we conceive is full of sin and dies. But what God conceives rises and ascends for it is life and salvation. All God’s children go the way of Christ who is your true Brother, by flesh and Spirit. For you were not born by the will of a man. You were born in water and in Word, born from above, and by His grace, are made virgin pure, being released from your fears and sins. You find your rest in Him.

And you will follow Him, not just in the way of suffering and the Cross - though you will drink the Cup He drank - but that is not the end or the goal. You will follow Him in the resurrection and the ascension to come. Thus do you sing and pray and wait. “O come, Thou Dayspring from on high and cheer us by Thy drawing night; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!” (LSB 357:6)

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Isaiah 40:1-11; 1 Corinthians 4:1-5; St Matthew 11:2-11
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

When John was in prison and knew that the end of his life was imminent, when it seemed as though the kingdom had failed and the satan Herod would win, he sent word by his disciples for a final word from Jesus. Do not be surprised by this. No one is immune from doubt. Even the most ardent and confident man behaves unexpectedly in the face of fear and death. John needed assurance. He needed hope. And he put it rather bluntly. Are you the Coming One or should we be waiting for another?

Typical of Jesus, He knows better than John what John needs. Its no different for you. He is patient and kind with His impatient children.

He does not, however, say, “Yes.” He does not say, “Its going to be okay John. You go to the prophet’s reward. Fear not, for I know what I am doing.” He says, The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.

He doesn’t say, “It’ll be alright. It’ll get better. Hang in there. You’re strong.” If John wants assurance that Jesus is the Coming One, the Messiah, then he needs to looks to the promises. It is no different for you. Your strength and your peace are not found within. “Buck up, buddy, you’ll be okay.” No. Man does not live by bread alone. Neither does he live by platitudes or gimmicks. But by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus directs John to the Scriptures. In particular Jesus is directing John to Isaiah 35:

Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who have an anxious heart,
    “Be strong; fear not!
Behold, your God
    will come with vengeance,
with the recompense of God.
    He will come and save you.”
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame man leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.
For waters break forth in the wilderness,
    and streams in the desert (Is 35:3-6).
Isaiah says, Your God will come and save you and then, the eyes of the blind shall be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. John should look and see what is happening. That’s why Jesus says, Go and tell John what you hear and see. That’s what John’s father, Zechariah, said. You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways (Lk 1:76). He goes before the Lord to prepare His way, not to make the way. John is the announcer of the Lamb. He is not the Lamb. He was destined for the wilderness and for martyrdom. He is not the light, but bears witness to the Light who gives light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death.

As He does with all of us, Jesus directs John away from his own heart, away from his own isolation and quarantine and gloomy surroundings. “Lift up your eyes, John, and see what’s happening.”

Yet he should not take comfort so much in the signs themselves, but in the Word and promises of God. The key thing is this: Your God will come and save you. Not, the blind will see and the lepers will be cleansed. The key thing is that God keeps His Word. And the faithful wait. That’s the Christian life, dear ones. Waiting. Creation waits (Rm 8:19). We wait (Rm 8:23). We wait with patience (Rm 8:25). We wait for the hope of righteousness (Gal 5:5). We wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus (1 Cor 1:7). We wait for our blessed hope (Titus 2:13). We wait for new heavens and a new earth (2 Pt 3:13). We wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:21). We wait in faith for the day when there will be no blind or deaf, lame of leprous.

So too John waits. And watches. He should look to his own office, as well. A few chapters later Isaiah gives John his duties:

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and cry to her
that her warfare is ended,
    that her iniquity is pardoned,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
    double for all her sins.
A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD;
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

This is the ministry of which Paul writes today. John is a servant of Christ. He is not a reed shaken by the wind, swaying with public opinion. He is more than a prophet. A steward of the very mystery of God that is Christ Himself. He, like all servants of Christ, is called not to be successful, but faithful.

For the Coming One is the Lord Himself, Yahweh in the Flesh. John doesn’t prepare for another fallen and fallible man in office. For a prophet, priest, or king. He prepares the way for the Lord Himself. For our God. What He prepares is the hearts of men. What he prepares them for is the Lord. For the One who led the people out of Egypt. For the One who brought the people back from Babylon. For the One who walked in the Garden seeing reconciliation with Adam and Eve.

He prepares the hearts of men for the Lord with tender words of comfort and a declaration of peace. But to the itching ears of men it comes and hits them as a harsh call to repentance. “Listen up, O people of God: Your warfare with God, your long rebellion and self-destruction, is ended. Your guilt is pardoned. Your sins are forgiven. The Lord has taken it upon Himself to stand in your stead and face the accusations and endure the tortures of hell that were due you in order to spare you and to welcome you back to Himself.”

That is the Lord’s glory of which Isaiah spoke and John proclaimed. It is revealed to those with eyes to see it. Not in shows of might or power. Nor in the healing of the lame and the raising of the dead. It is shown in the preaching of the good news of peace accomplished in Christ Jesus.

This is why Jesus adds for John and his disciples, Blessed is the one who is not scandalized by Me. Our Lord is about to die. To be crucified. Such a death is a stumbling block to jews and foolishness to Greeks. Many will take offense at it. Until the end of time men will continue to take offense at a Crucified Christ and His Church who lives from His Cross. Even Christians take offense at Christ when they fall away from Him because they are not willing to follow Him on the way of suffering. Christ’s blessing to John is also a warning to us.

For even at the final glory on the Last Day, when there are no more blind or deaf, lame or leprous, the full revelation of Christ’s glory is when He is lifted up from the earth. And in its on-going proclamation by which He continues to draw all men to Himself. Do not take lightly, beloved, the preaching of the Word. The outloud proclamation of the Gospel matters. The Word of the Lord is meant to be preached and heard. You cannot live without it. Even the imprisoned John, greatest of the prophets, greatest born of women, needed to be constantly reminded that the Lamb comes to be sacrificed for the sins of the world.

There is a sense in which we are all languishing in prison. Subject to little and greater Herods. For we have given in to our passions. We have indulged our fleshly desires. We have harbored grudges and jealousies. We have secretly hated and openly gossiped and lied about nearly everything. Everyone who sins is a slave, a prisoner to sin.

Repent and hear the Word of the Lord: “Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will comes with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will comes and save you.” Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

And God baptizes for Himself a people who were no people. He sets the prisoners free. He is the Coming One who has come for you. And behold, the Lord is at hand. Near to you now in Bread and Wine, His Body and Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins. The way is open. Blessed is the one who is not offended at Him.

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-14; St Mark 1:1-8
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

This is where and how the Gospel begins by and with the preaching of the Voice of God. And this is how it continues. This is how the Lord comes to you. To comfort you and give you life.  And this is how you are prepared for His coming. By this Voice that preaches to you in His Name.

The Lord sends a preacher to voice His Word which alone endures forever. It’s not a textbook in the wilderness. It’s not an instruction manual that calls you to repent. It is the Voice of God that speaks, that preaches, which stands fast and saves you. The grass withers and the flower fades, but this Word of the Lord endures forever. This Word by which He is preaching to you.

Everything else shall wither and fade, or it shall be destroyed by fire, but His Word remains. His Word abides. And so He sends a preacher to speak that eternal Word into your ears, into your heart, in order to turn your heart away from all of your false gods and idols to Him alone.

So, then, how is it with your heart? What is it that you trust and depend upon? What do you rely on to get you through each day? What is it that makes you feel safe and content and at peace?

And what is it that your heart fears? What causes your heart to tremble and quake, and makes your hands shake and your forehead sweat? What are you most nervous and anxious about?

And what is it that your heart loves? What is it that you live for? For what would you be willing to give up everything, even life itself? What is your passion? What is it that you prize?

Whatever it is that your heart clings to with such devotion, that is your god. Whatever or whoever it is that your heart fears, loves, and trusts more than anything else, that is your god. 

That is what rules you. That is what determines your thoughts, words, and deeds. So, how is it with your heart?

Bear this in mind: Everything in the heavens and on this earth is passing away.  All the world’s works and all of its ways are perishing. There is nothing that will remain except the Word of God.

And He is coming. The Lord is coming. The almighty One, the true and only God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, the Creator of all things, who was and is and is to come, He is coming. He is coming to you here and now, and He will come at the last to judge the living and the dead.

So consider how you will meet Him. Where will your heart be when He appears in power and great glory? Will you meet Him face to face in faith, in boldness and confidence, with great joy at His coming? Or with your back turned away from Him in fear, running away, trying to hide?

How will you meet the Lord who is coming? It matters where and how your heart is. Indeed, it makes all the difference, not in His attitude toward you, but in the way that you receive Him.

Knowing all of this, what sort of person ought you to be? How should you be living your life in the body here and now? What should you be about and be doing when the Lord appears in glory?

Look to Him as He is coming to you now, and live by faith in His Word. Today, if you would hear His Voice, do not harden your heart against Him. Hear and heed what He is preaching to you.

If your heart is proud, humble yourself before Him. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and He will exalt you at the proper time. If your heart is despairing, lift up your head in hope, because it is your Redeemer who draws near. If your heart is greedy and selfish, give away your possessions to those who have nothing. If you are consumed by some lust or addiction, give up those idols and seek the Lord where He may be found. Call upon Him in the day of trouble.

Be broken of your sins. Be broken of your unbelief. Be broken of all your false gods. Repent.  For a broken and contrite heart, the Lord does not despise. He comes in mercy to the broken and downhearted, in order to heal you, to put you back together, to give you life instead of death.

Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the Name of Jesus Christ. The promise is for you and for your children. Repent, and believe the Gospel. Know that your sins are forgiven by this Voice of Christ Jesus. And with His forgiveness of your sins, there is also His Life and Salvation.

Repent, and be baptized. Or, if you have already been baptized, rejoice in the Word and promise of God and His gift of Holy Baptism. Return to those waters by which He has cleansed you in body and soul, in heart, mind, and conscience, by His Word and Holy Spirit. Get back to that Jordan River where you were washed. Confess your sins, and be absolved by the Voice of God.

Return to the significance of your Baptism, not just once. Not only “once in a while.” But daily and throughout your life, unto the Resurrection of the body and the Life everlasting of body and soul in the never ending Day of the Lord Jesus Christ. Be crucified, put to death, and buried with Him by contrition and repentance. And then be raised to newness of life in and with Him, both now and forever, by faith in His forgiveness of your sins.

For that is what He has for you. That is what His Voice speaks to you.  That is His comfort for your broken heart, your true peace and rest in Him.

Go out to the preacher whom God the Lord has sent to you. Go listen to His preaching. Hear the Word of proclamation in the midst of the wilderness, the Law and the Gospel, unto repentance and faith in the forgiveness of all of your sins. Return to the waters of your Baptism. Enter with Him into the New Heavens and the New Earth, the Home where righteousness dwells. Return to the waters of your Baptism by going out to that “Jordan River,” confessing your sins, where the Lord your God causes His Word to be preached into your ears.

That is what “all the people” did. All the people of Judea, all the people of Jerusalem, all the people of God who were waiting for the Redemption of Israel. They heard the Voice, and they did not harden their hearts, but they went, confessing their sins. 

You go, too. Confess your sins. Say them out loud. And thereby let the Word of God have its way with you. Let His Law put those sins to death. And let His Voice of comfort heal you with His forgiveness.

That is what a contrite and penitent heart does first of all.  It confesses the truth. Having heard the Word of God, it can finally speak. It has something worth saying. It knows what is true, because the Lord has spoken. The Word by whom all things are made, apart from whom there is nothing, He has spoken, and His Voice is true. A heart of repentant faith confesses what He has said.

So, confess your sins, for that is the truth. You are a sinner. You deserve nothing but punishment. Confess that hard truth. But do so in the confession of Christ Jesus, in the confidence of His sweet Gospel. Confess Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, who has not come to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through Him, and that you should live by His Word.

It is in such confidence that you confess your sins. And that is not the end of the story. Instead of your head on the chopping block, your heart hears and receives the comfort of God the Lord.

“Speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” That is how the Lord instructs His Voice in the wilderness to preach. “Tell her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned.”  That is what His Voice now also speaks to you. Into your ears. Into your heart. That you may believe and be saved.

Do not take it lightly, and do not take the preaching of His Voice for granted. The out-loud proclamation of the Gospel matters. The Word of the Lord is meant to be preached and heard, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. It is such a Voice that God sends to prepare the Way of the Lord.

That is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God. For St. Mark, in particular, that is where it all begins. With this Voice of the Lord in the wilderness, preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Yes, in the heart and mind of God, the Gospel has been established from before the foundation of the world. Even before the beginning, before He created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them by the speaking of His Word, the Father determined to speak His Word, His own beloved Son, into the Flesh, in order to redeem and save Adam and Eve and all their children for the Life everlasting in body and soul by the way of His Cross and Resurrection.

In the presence of the Holy Triune God, it is ever and always accomplished and absolutely certain. So it is that your redemption and your righteousness are entirely and solely by divine grace, prior to any and all works that you should do, and prior to any thoughts or feelings you might ever have.

But the Gospel begins for you with the preaching of this same Word, Jesus Christ, in a particular place and time. It is fulfilled in your ears, as the Voice of the Lord speaks to your heart the Law that condemns and the Gospel that forgives you all your sins, comforting you with His mercy, and granting you His perfect peace. A peace this world cannot give. That is what He preaches to you. And that is how His Gospel begins for you.

Hear and receive this comfort that is spoken to your heart. The fierceness of the Lord’s Law is for the sake of bringing you to the sweet sound of His Gospel. His Holy Absolution of your sins and His free gift of Life and Salvation in the Body of Christ Jesus. That is the divine Voice which speaks to you here in this place, at this Font, Pulpit, and Altar of the Lord. And that is what makes this place a “Jordan River” in the midst of the wilderness. Your entry into the Promised Land.

His Voice makes all the difference.  For every sin which would destroy you is taken away by the Lord Jesus Christ, borne in His Body on the Cross. And your painful, embarrassing repentance, the shame and humiliation of saying out loud what you don’t want to admit even to yourself, is the way by which the Word and Spirit of God unite you to Christ Jesus in His Cross. And by which His Gospel of forgiveness unites you with His bodily Resurrection from the dead.

It is His Word that does everything for you. Always and forever. The waters of your Baptism, by His Word, cleansed your conscience and give you peace in His presence through the forgiveness of all your sins. His Word is Spirit and Truth. It will not fail you.

So, too, this preaching of His Gospel does what His Voice declares. Your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. Your sins are all forgiven. They are removed. Thus says the Lord.

It is by this Voice of the Gospel that the Holy Spirit has opened the Way of Christ into your heart. He also opened the Way of Christ before you in love, that you should enter with Him into the New Creation, His Kingdom, where you abide and serve in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. And even now, by faith, share in His Resurrection of your body to Life everlasting in body and soul, heart and mind with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Even now, it is the Milk and Honey of the New Heavens and the New Earth which flow for you here, in the midst of the wilderness, from the Altar of Christ Jesus, from His Cross, from His own hands, and with His own Voice: “Take, eat. This is My Body. Drink of it all of you. This is My Blood, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins.”

In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

*I am deeply indebted to Pr Rick Stuckwisch for much of the above.

Malachi 4:1-6; Romans 15:4-13; St Luke 21:25-36
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Dear people loved by God, Jesus teaches us today about the Last Day. And on that Day, when the world finally comes completely unglued, His goal for you is simple: that you stand. While unbelievers are fainting in fear and terror, His will for you is to straighten up and raise your heads and to stand. Mothers aren’t the only ones worried about your posture. So is Jesus.

But these signs of the Last Day already began at our Lord’s Incarnation, at His Crucifixion and Death, in His Resurrection and Ascension. Thus Jesus’ goal for His disciples, both then and now, is not only to stand at the Last Day. But to stand now. This “standing” is much more than just physical posture; standing upright on your own two feet. To “stand” is an attitude. A character. A Christian virtue. It is to be awake and alert to God’s purposes. This is the posture of faith.

As a soldier of Christ you are called to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:10-12). You are called to stand guard against all that is arrayed against you. To withstand in the evil day. To stand firm. No slouching.

But our hearts are heavy. Weighed down. We are sagging. We’ve become a pathetic sight. Droopy, defeated Christians. We have come here this morning with heavy hearts. Hearts loaded down with cares. Bowed down with sadness. Hearts and minds burdened with troubles and fears. Worried about others expectations of you. Anxious of all the expectation of God’s Law, too.

A droopy heart is an unbelieving heart. A heart weighed down with dissipation, drunken with the cares of this life. Such hearts are hearts disconnected from Jesus, the One who is Life. No wonder Jesus warns us to watch ourselves! For He knows our hearts. How they love to chase every other comfort but Jesus. How they’ll believe anything that reinforces what serves us. We’ve so overindulged to the point of harming ourselves.

I’m not talking about physical death. There are things much worse. St Nicholas understood this when he secretly gave money to a father to provide dowries to his daughters so that they avoid slavery. Or when he defended the confession of the Holy Trinity at Nicea against heresy. Heresy. Apostasy. Rejection of the Truth. These are worse than death. Do we have ears to learn from things written down in former days for our instruction, as St Paul says? Or have we filled our hearts with empty comforts? Taken solace in the gifts rather than the Giver?

Dear friends in Christ, you have come to where there is help for heavy hearts, weighed down with dissipation. But your help is not in examining your heavy heart, though you are, in fact, called to do just that. What do you find there? Nothing but sin and death from which you cannot free yourself. Neither is your help in resolving to get your priorities right or in a promise to let God do the worrying. Your help is not found in you, your heart, or mind at all. Your help is found in the heart of Jesus, from whom comes words that forgive, words that lift up droopy, guilt-laden hearts.

Words like, heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word will not pass away. In other words the sky and earth will pass away. All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll.  All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree (Is 34:4). For behold, the Day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble.  The Day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts.

But His Word will stand secure. His Word will not budge an inch. The world you live in is changing faster than you ever imagined. There’s plenty of fear and foreboding. Quite a bit of distress of nations in perplexity. But His Word won’t change a bit. His Word endures forever.

Words like, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28). Words like, Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Mt 11:29). Words like, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Abide in Me, for apart from Me you can do nothing (Jn 15:5). Words like those spoken to heavy-hearted and fearful disciples on Easter Eve: Peace be with you (Jn 20:19).

Without Jesus’ Word we have no faith. Apart from His Word we have nothing. But even if you have everything, apart from faith no one stands. Not now. Not on the Last Day. Without Jesus’ Word everyone on the Last Day is stubble, everyone is ablaze, everyone faints. Nobody escapes when God pours out His wrath. But clinging to Jesus and His Word, you have the words of eternal life.

While our faith sags, grows dim and weak, His never did. For He was the Man whose whole purpose was to come into this world to stand in the Resurrection. To defeat your sins, to defeat death and to defeat the devil. Unlike Adam, unlike the disciples, unlike us, His heart never got heavy laden with idols. His heart was always nimble to do His Father’s will. Always alert to the devil’s schemes and lies. Always in the ready position to do whatever it took to make you stand.

For Jesus came into the world to make you stand, too. Stand in the Resurrection on the Last Day before the Son of Man. Guiltless. Innocent. Free.

But first He had to be knocked down. Brought low. Stagger and become weak. So He packed His pure heart with all our sins. Then He bowed His back and carried the Cross so that He could take those sins away. He hung on the Cross until He drooped and sagged there, heavy with our mistrust, laden with our dissipation, weighed down with our death, until He was dead and buried and your sins were removed from God’s memory.

But His goal was to stand. And stand He did. Up from the dead so that He might put words in the mouth of Pastors that unburden heavy hearts. Words like, “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Words like, “I forgive you all your sins.” Words like “Lift up your hearts.”

Dear friends, those signs in sun, moon, and stars will come and are coming. There’s plenty to attract our attention and distract our gaze. Plenty to worry and fret and lament over. Lift up your hearts and eyes and heads to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith. Lift them up to the direction of this Altar. Your redemption is near.

For the signs here are even better. Signs of His love for you. Gracious signs like your Holy Baptism, where you were purchased out of slavery to sin. Signs like His Body and His Blood, the Sun of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings, which forgive you, enliven you, refresh you, and ready you to stand both now and on the Last Day.

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Ezekiel 3:16-21; Romans 10:8b-18; St John 1:35-42a
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

He was a disciple of John. From him he learned to pray. From him he was instructed how to fast. From him he received a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. With him he waited for the Coming One. The Messiah. The Christ. The Baptizer was a Rabbi in his own right. He had disciples; catechumens; among whom was Andrew. But his chief function, especially in the Gospel according to St John, the Baptizer was a witness. He was a finger and a voice. He testified of the Christ and pointed to Him.

Andrew heard that proclamation of his rabbi. Behold, the Lamb of God! He had said it the previous day as well. But as it is with all catechumens, repetition is essential. And on top of that, this day, he not only said it, John looked intently at Jesus as He walked. He fixed his gaze on Him. He bears witness not only with his voice and his gestures, but also with his eyes. The preacher to the Hebrews exhorts similarly: Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the Founder and Perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:1-2).

But Andrew has to learn to walk before he can run. And so he, along with another disciple of John, followed Jesus. He’s the first disciple mentioned in John’s Gospel. He’s the first follower of Rabbi Jesus. He’s the first “home missionary,” as we’ll hear, when he brings his brother, Simon, to Jesus. He’s the first “foreign missionary,” as noted in John 12, when he brings some Greeks to Jesus. He’s one of the first apostles to be martyred. All these firsts, it’s no wonder that St Andrew’s Feast Day is the first one of the Church Year. Always associated with the start of Advent.

But there’s another first that we should note. We make a big deal about the last words of the Blessed Virgin Mary in John’s Gospel, Do whatever Jesus tells you (Jn 2:5). But what about the first words of Jesus? Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, What do you seek? These are the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John. They are Jesus’ question for His followers, thus they are the Church’s question for catechumens. “What do you seek?”

It’s hardly an opened ended question. The Evangelist answers it for us. These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name (Jn 20:31). The entirety of the Gospel narrative, then, presents what the disciple seeks. It is as though Jesus asks Andrew, “Do you seek what this story tells of Me?” “Are you searching the Scriptures, waiting and watching for the Messiah?” “Is this the way that you desire to walk?” Its a little early, but He’s getting them ready for that big question to the Sons of Thunder, Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? (Mk 10:38)

And their response, Rabbi, is not mere politeness. They are indicating that they do, in fact, wish to assume the life that Jesus lives. That is why they ask, Where are you staying? It is not a question of, “Where do You unroll Your sleeping bag?” Its a question of conversion. Where are You remaining? “Where do You abide?” As in, The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever (Jn 8:35). The slave of sin does not remain in the house of the Father. The Son remains forever. He is the Christ. The Lamb of God. And if He sets you free from sin you will truly be free. And this freedom is the gift given to those who are truly Jesus’ disciples. Those who remain in My Word (Jn 8:31).

What about you? Are you politely following after Jesus? Sort of going through the motions, not really committed to “delight in His will and walk in His ways to the glory of His holy name”? What are you seeking? It is life with Christ? Or is it something else? Is it to be where He is? For Jesus is nowhere other than His Cross. For the disciple to remain with Jesus is for the disciple to share the sufferings of His Teacher.

And without doubt that’s a hard thing to do. And it’s only going to get tougher. After the 5,000 filled their bellies with bread, they didn’t want to hear the hard sayings of Jesus. They all walked away. Every one of them. That’s why Paul quotes Isaiah, Lord, who has believe what he heard from us? They have not all obeyed the Gospel. That is, not everyone who heard has ears to hear. The Word goes forth, for that is what our Lord Christ has given us to do, but “some be snatched and some be scorched and some be choked and matted flat” (LSB 586:4). The preacher’s heart breaks for those who hear, but in time of testing fall away.

But that is what out Lord Jesus gives His preachers to do. That is what He gave Andrew to do. To be a watchman for the house of Israel. To preach His Word of Law and Gospel. To warn the righteous as well as the wicked. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how is they to preach unless they are sent?

My friends, this is the way Christ has given for the creating and sustaining of saving faith. He ordains men. Men with human voices. Men with human hands. To proclaim His Word and distribute His gifts.

And it can be no other way. A virtual Christianity is a phantom. We must be gathered together by our Lord by and around His Word and Sacraments. The very fact that the Word became Flesh, that great mystery of Christianity which we long to celebrate at Christmas, the very fact that Jesus had a place to unroll His sleeping bag, means that we need to be together as the Body of Christ. This is where He remains and how we remain in Him.

Jesus takes up a human voice. He has human hands. He touches the sick, the dying, the dead with those hands. He spits on them and jabs them into ears! The Baptizer points to His body when He says, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

It is in that Body that He bears your sins. It is those hands that are stretched out upon the Cross and driven through with nails. It is His voice that strains to pardon those who crucify Him, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Lk 23:34).

And it is in that Body that He is raised from the dead never to die again. In that Body, that He physically appears to His frightened disciples, inviting them to touch Him. And with His breath He breathes on them. And with His voice He commissions them to be sent out even as He was sent out by the Father.

And so Andrew goes. He bore witness because he was with Jesus from the beginning. He was an Apostle. A sent one. An emissary. According to tradition he went to Scythia, that is, the region north of the Caspian Sea. He was killed by the Greeks in Patrae, a city in Achaia. Like his brother, Simon Peter, he was crucified. But he didn’t consider himself worthy to die in the same manner as his Teacher, so he was bound, not nailed, to a cross hung in the shape of an X. For the three days that it took him to die, he preached from that pulpit. When some of his catechumens desired to take him down he forbade it, saying that to do so would deny the very Gospel of Christ. As Job rightly asked, Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive disaster? (Job 2:10).

My friends, this is the Christ, which means Anointed, for whom Andrew waited. The Christian life of faith and love is one of waiting. Searching Moses and the Prophets, Jesus found them. And then, having been found, they found Him. That’s what Andrew told Peter. That’s often what it feels like. The Gospel comes a surprise. An amazing discovery for which we didn’t even know we were looking. Didn’t even know how desperately we needed it.

Having been found by Christ, Andrew found Peter and brought him to Jesus. So it is that someone else brought you. Not only at your Holy Baptism or your Confirmation, but even now. For even now you have been brought to Jesus who comes to you. He invites you to come. He wants you to see where He is abiding and encourages you to stay. Abide in Him and He in you. Again tonight He brings you to His Table and through the human hands and human voice of His ordained men He gives to you His Word, by which faith comes and is sustained, and He gives you His Body and Blood, with the Bread and Wine, for the forgiveness of your sins, the strengthening of your faith and love, and the bestowal of a real and eternal life in Him.

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Jeremiah 23:5-8; Romans 12:8-14; St Matthew 21:1-9
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Whenever the Chinese near year comes around in February, people ask, “What animal is in the spotlight this year?” 2020 was the year of the rat. Last year was a pig. Next year will be the year of the ox.

But when a new Church Year rolls around, we Christians don’t have to ask, “What animal is in the spotlight this year?” For the Church has traditionally put the same animal in the spotlight every year - the donkey. Not just one, but two, actually. A mother and her colt. An old one and a new one. They may not seem like much to us. Beasts of burden. But donkeys are royal transportation in the Bible. Donkeys are king carriers. And Jesus is the King the prophet Zechariah is talking about when he says, Behold, your King is coming to you, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden. Every year we being the new Church Year telling the tale of the King and those two donkeys.

And that story is supposed to put you in mind of another story about a king and two donkeys. An Old Testament story (2 Sam 15-16). That king was King David and he was walking up the Mount of Olives out of Jerusalem. For he was driven from the city by his vain and rebellious son, Absalom. He was no Righteous Branch who executed justice and righteousness in the land. He was an unrighteous and bitter root who plotted and conspired against the Lord’s anointed.

So there was David, God’s choice, walking barefoot with his head covered, weeping. Plotted against by his son, betrayed by his close associate, Ahithophel, rejected by the people, King David walked out of Jerusalem, up the Mount of Olives, not knowing whether he would live or die. To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame.

But King David would live. Because at the top of Mt Olive, the Lord had provided two donkeys. Two donkeys with food tied to them. There was bread and there was wine. There were raisins and other fruits. King David and his men would survive in the wilderness. And in time the Lord would direct another donkey to carry the conspirator king, Absalom, into a tree. There he would hang by his long hair until he was speared to death and David could return to his throne (2 Sam 18:14).

But today you hear of a better story of a King and two donkeys. King Jesus riding into Jerusalem. And atop those two donkey is even Better Food, God’s provision for our eternal salvation. For riding on those donkeys is Jesus, the Bread of Life. Riding on those donkeys is Jesus the True Vine. Riding into Jerusalem is King Jesus, God’s good fruit, who rides into Jerusalem to die for our rottenness.

What a good thing to begin another year of grace hearing about those two donkeys. For too often, and this past year especially, our life seems to be the story of a donkey. Not just nasty, brutish, and short. But even worse - the donkey that lives inside of us. Our old nature. What St Paul today calls the flesh. As in, make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. Our Lutheran Confessions call it a “wild, unmanageable, stubborn donkey.” A beast (FC Ep II 19).

That’s the stubborn donkey in us that stubbornly refuses to trust that God means only good for us. That’s the stubborn donkey in us that stubbornly wants to live for nothing but ease, fun, and self-indulgence. That’s the stubborn donkey inside that stubbornly insists on being discontent, despite so many things for which to be thankful. The stubborn donkey that kicks and brays around, whining and complaining, in quarreling and jealousy. St Paul calls those works of darkness.

But you heard the Apostle. You are to cast off the works of darkness. Or to say is another way, kill the donkey inside lest he steer you where you don’t want to end up. Down a path of no return whose end is destruction.

Put to death the donkey inside. Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. And behold that wonderful animal in the spotlight carrying the even more wonderful King Jesus into Jerusalem.

Some Church Fathers say that He rode in on the two at the same time. Some say He rode on the old one to show that He came for His Old Testament people. And then He rode on the young one to show that He came for His New Testament Church.

But it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that He rode into Jerusalem to die for our sins. He rode into Jerusalem to be the Bread of Life broken for us. He rode into Jerusalem to be God’s True Vine to be stomped for us. He rode into Jerusalem to be treated like David’s rebel son, Absalom. Hung on a tree and then pierced with a spear! In order to atone for our stubborn, stiff-necked refusal to fear, love, and trust in Him as we should. What a sight those two donkeys are! Behold, your King is coming to you on them!

You know, dear friends, shortly after Luther died the Roman Catholics wanted to change the first Gospel of the Church Year. Their thinking went like this - since Advent means, “Coming,” it’s enough that we remember two comings of Jesus. Its enough that we remember His first coming. His birth in Bethlehem. And His Last Coming to judge the living and the dead. But the Lutherans insisted that the Church Year begin with Jesus coming into Jerusalem. Advent begins by putting us in Holy Week. Palm Sunday. In this way, Advent is like “Christmas Lent.” That’s one of the reasons the color is violet. And that crown of thorns on the Altar paramount “cradles” the Chi-Rho. The One laid whose crib was a manger, the purpose of His Advent was to die.

And that’s why for Lutherans the emphasis on His comings are always His coming to us and His coming for us, now. That is, His coming to you and for you in Word and Sacrament. Just as King Jesus went into Jerusalem on a humble donkey, so now He rides into His New Jerusalem, the Church, on humble bread and humble wine. Kings don’t usually approach their people. Their people approach Him. But not our Merciful King. He is as stubborn as the donkeys He rode into Jerusalem about carrying out His Father’s will to die for you, to rise for you, to ascend for you. And then, to come to you, approaching you with the benefits of His life, death, resurrection and ascension.

You heard the command that Jesus gave those two disciples about those two donkeys. Untie them and bring them to Me. The Lord needs them. That is not only so that He could fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy. It is also to show you how He wants His Pastors to deal with you. For it is not unlike the command that Jesus gave the Pastor when you were baptized. “Untie them from their sins and bring them to Me.” It’s not unlike what Jesus tells Pastors to do with the sins that burden the faithful. “Loose them from their burdens and bring them to Me.”

That’s what is happening again this morning and every time you are absolved. You are untied from your sins, loosed from your burdens, and brought to Jesus. He has need of you. For what? Not to ride and weigh down. But to do as you heard from St Paul this morning. Owe no one anything, except to love each other. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law. Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

And all of this is true because there’s only one animal in the spotlight. In the Church its never the year of the pig or the rat or the ox. Its not even the year of the donkey. If you want to talk in terms of animals, there’s only One in the spotlight every day of every year. Its the Year of the Lamb. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus, the Lamb of God who is the All Sufficient Sacrifice. Jesus, the Lamb of God who is our All Sufficient Food and our All Sufficient Deliverer. Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Deuteronomy 8:1-10; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; St Luke 17:11-19
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
They were supposed to be outside the camp. That’s what Moses wrote. That’s what the Lord had said. Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp everyone who is leprous. "You shall put out both male and female, putting them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell" (Num 5:2-3). And of course this was the way it was always done. Because no one ever defies or disobeys a theocratic government.

The picture given to us in the New Testament or even the Old is different than we may suspect. It does not appear that lepers lived in colonies, isolated and completely cut off from the rest of society. Rather, they roamed around on the fringes, on the edge of civilization. They aren’t engaging in “normal” activities, but they don’t seem too far off, either. They were to go around with their robes torn and bareheaded. They were to cover their upper lip and cry out “Unclean, unclean,” if anyone came near.

They weren’t wanderers or cave dwellers. But they were certainly on the outside looking in. They were seen as the “living dead.” Cursed by God. Leprosy was an apt object lesson for sin. Much can be made of this. Sometimes too much. But at the least it is helpful to know that leprosy caused anesthesia of the nerves while the skin rotted away. In other words, the leper didn’t feel pain or hurt as his fingers and nose would become deformed and fall off. Sadly, such is the self-consuming nature of sin. It deadens the nerves and eats up alive. Sin makes us stupid. And it is often unfelt by the sinner until it is too late.

But mainly people didn’t want lepers around for fear of contamination and the fact that they bore in their own bodies the effects of sin. It was best to keep them out and keep your distance.

This might sound eerily familiar. We’ve created a new leprosy today. Its not just those infected with Covid. We treat everyone with suspicion and keep our distance. We’re all exiled from our communities. Everyone is told to cover his upper lip (and nose). We’re not living in colonies or caves, but we are roaming around on the fringes, isolated and alone.

And heaven forbid we or someone close to us contract the virus!  Than everyone is labeled “unclean” and is unwelcome unto we’ve “gone and shown ourselves to the priests,” and done our 10-14 day ritual quarantine.

Apologies, my friends, for the foyer into politics. The Scriptures are supremely relevant, though. Anyway, its somewhat unavoidable when gathering for a holiday that is not an official commemoration or feast of the historic Church year. But all things created by God are good and are not to be rejected if received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (1 Tim 4:4).

But before you start patting yourselves on the backs for being in the company of the Samaritan, among the 10% who returned this evening to praise God with a loud voice and give Him thanks, hear the Word of the Lord through Moses: The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do.

We have not been careful to do all that the Lord has commanded. Not unlike Israel we have grumbled and complained. We have broken the Eighth Commandment against our rulers, for whom we are to pray, and against our brethren, whom we are to love. We have broken the Seventh Commandment against our employers as productivity falls while working from home. Living together in closer quarters than before, our tempers have flared, our spleens have been vented, and we have broken the Fifth Commandment against one another. We have broken the First Commandment against God, fearing, loving, and trusting in all sorts of other things instead of Him.

Remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.

Not. He has tested us these long months, dear Christians. He knows what’s in our hearts. We have failed. As we return this evening to give praise God and give Him thanks, repentance is needed. Now and always. This always the first move in approaching the Lord God to give Him thanks. Is this not how it is in the holy liturgy of the Divine Service? In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. And then, boom, first thing, the confession of sins. Even the ten or less socially distanced congregation of lepers sang the Kyrie; Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

Is this not how we are taught to pray the Fourth Petition? “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.” He leads us to realize this by bringing us to repentance and faith, confession and forgiveness once and again. Even to the eyes that don’t look to Him, He still opens His hand and feeds them in due season.

For forty years they disobeyed. The golden calf and its sexual immorality. Fear of the giants in the land and doubt of God’s Word and promise. They even complained that there was no food and they loathed the worthless food! And still the Lord their God fed them, clothed them, protected them, disciplined them, and brought them into a good land.

It is no different for us, dear friends. We have been disciplined. The preacher to the Hebrews proclaims, Have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Heb 12:5-7, 11). Though we often and repeatedly fail, still He provides “food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors and the like.”

And if and where He removes or withholds any of these, it is is according to His wisdom in order to train you in righteousness. That is, to repent of covetousness and idolatry, and receive your daily bread with thanksgiving.

Thus does St Paul write to Pastor Timothy and all the Christians in Ephesus that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions. Even at the height of Nero’s rule, the guy who was using lashing burning Christians to posts and using them as street lamps in Rome, St Paul says to pray for him. For it is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

We are being disciplined, dear friends. God is treating us as sons. How shall we respond? Will we walk in His commandments, receiving our daily bread with thanksgiving, and bless the Lord our God for the good land He has given us?

For the truth is Christ didn’t shy away from those lepers. He cleansed them. Not just the one who returned, but the other nine as well. He gives daily bread to all people. He fed the Israelites and protected them, even though they did not walk in His Word or obey His ways. He did it for the sake of His promise. For the sake of the One who would be born in the Good Land. The One who would pass along between Samaria and Galilee on His way to Jerusalem.

For there He goes to cleanse all people from their sins. Not just lepers or Israelites. But Samaritans and Gentiles too. When God decided to love you He didn’t love you from a distance. He didn’t keep away for fear of contamination. He sent His own Son into the flesh to bear our sin and be our Savior. He became infected with the leprosy of our sin, breathed our poisoned air, submitted to the kings and those in high positions because it was pleasing to God. He kept the Eighth Commandment toward all, the Fifth Commandment toward all, the First Commandment for all. He kept all the Commandments for you. And then offered up His perfect Life as the final Sacrifice for all sin, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2).

The Father raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in order that He may spread His Table before you this evening. Behold here is His Eucharist, His Thanksgiving. You do not live by bread alone, but here you live by the Bread that is His Body and the Wine that is His Blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Yeah, its the kid’s Table, for you, His dear children. But there is no better place on earth to be. It is a share in the Good Land the Lord your God has given you. Sing to the Lord as long as you live. Sing praise to your God while you have being.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Isaiah 65:17-25; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; St Matthew 25:1-13
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Today our Lord Christ tells a parable to His Bride, the Church. For He is the heavenly Bridegroom who loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word (Eph 5:25-26). And you all beloved, are in this parable. You’re all bridesmaids. Yes, even the men. But the question today is, “Are you a wise bridesmaid or a foolish one?” Are you ready to meet Bridegroom Jesus when God says, “Time’s up” on this world? Are you prepared for that Day when Jesus comes suddenly to make all things new? You don’t know the day nor the hour. So will you be surprised? Left out in the dark, because you weren’t ready?

We’ve got a few couple newly married, a few others preparing for marriage. You all know the customs associated with the typical American bridegroom. They’re not really all that Christian, actually. He’s not supposed to see the bride before the service. He’s got to choose his best man. He’s got to pick out a tux or nice suit.

The bridegroom in Jesus’ day followed a different set of customs. After he proposed he started building an extra room - the wedding chamber - on his parents’ house. Weddings were always on Wednesdays for ancient Israelites. So every Tuesday night as the wedding chamber was nearing completion, the bridesmaids would go out and wait with the bride on the chance that a wedding might take place. The bridegroom was supposed to be a “Man of Surprise.” One of the greatest things he could accomplish was to catch the bridal party napping as they waited with the bride for him to arrive. As soon as the Bridegroom arrived, they could all walk to the wedding and the reception outside the wedding chamber. It could last for days.

In our day, though, weddings are scripted down to the minute. You know exactly when the service will start, when the reception will start. Both parties have a schedule for the day of. I was once told by a bride that I would be offering the dinner prayer at 6:43pm.

But it wasn’t this way in Jesus’ day. You didn’t know what time the wedding would start. It could be 6p. It could be 9p. It could be midnight. It all depended on the Bridegroom’s arrival. And it was the duty of the bridesmaids to wait with the bride and not fall asleep. To be awake and alert when the cry went out, Behold, the Bridegroom is coming! They would all be ready to meet him in the streets and march over with him to the wedding banquet with their lamps burning. And no one was allowed on the streets after dark without a lighted oil lamp.

Jesus is the Bridegroom of Bridegrooms. He is coming again, but you don’t know when. You yourselves are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Are you ready? Are you spiritually prepared? Notice how all ten look alike. All have their hair done up. Their fancy clothes on. They all have their lamps. And they all fall asleep. That is, they all die.

It is in waking, in the resurrection, that the wise are distinguished from the foolish. Jesus sets them apart at the start. When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. The Scriptures, my friends, describe wisdom as trust in the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 9:10). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Mt 7:24). The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere (Ja 3:17). Whereas, Fools despise wisdom and instruction (Pr 1:7). The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” (Ps 14:1). Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand (Mt 7:26). Foolishness in Scripture is unbelief.

They looked alike, didn’t they, until the resurrection? It was what they had before death and the resurrection that set them apart. The wise had extra oil. The foolish didn’t. By the grace of God, the wise, despite their weakness and lack of diligence in their task, never lost faith that the Bridegroom would come. They so delighted themselves in being with the Bridegroom when He came that they were prepared. The oil that these virgins had was a faith fed and fueled by the Gospel given to them in Holy Baptism, sustained by Holy Preaching, Holy Absolution, and the Holy Supper. The wise fill up on these things before it’s too late. This is how the Christian faith is kept alive and burning brightly. Being gathered to where the Bridegroom comes, not allowing trust to grow cold and oil to run dry. This is how the wise Christian waits for Jesus.

And as much as you may want to, you can’t believe for someone else. That’s why the five bridesmaids could not share their oil. Even St Paul had great sorrow and anguish of heart for his Jewish brothers. He wished that he were accursed and cut off from Christ for their sake; that they would believe (Rm 9:1-5). We all have people like that in our lives. That’s what’s so sad about this parable. Half of the virgins don’t enter the wedding banquet. Three quarters of the Seed falls in bad soil and fails to produce a harvest! Oh what of that Lord, what of that?

But faith cannot be purchased. And it cannot be taken for granted. It is a gift given where Jesus and His Word and Supper are found. The Church is the oil depot for the wise. You cannot stay away, for whatever reason or excuse, and assume its okay. That everything will be fine. “I’m baptized. I pray. I read my Bible. That’s enough. I’ll be okay.” No!

This parable is a warning, dear Christians. A warning not to be a the foolish virgins. Nonchalant about the oil. Not taking it seriously. Relying on their own schemes. Their own strength. Their own reason and smarts. And then after they hear the cry that the Bridegroom is coming they go out and try to buy some but its too late. What they need can’t be bough and the door is shut to them forever.

You are children of the light, children of the day. Let us keep awake and be sober. It’s not enough to be on the church rolls. You don’t get credit for saying your grandma was devout. It’s not enough to be baptized and never darken the door of the church again. It’s not enough to be confirmed as though its a graduation rite. To the foolish He will truly be the Bridegroom of Surprise. A terrifying surprise of sudden destruction.

To the wise, whenever He comes, He will be the Bridegroom we’re expecting and longing to see. To the wise Jesus will not be a Bridegroom of Surprise. We belong to the Day; dressed with the breastplate of faith and love, for a helmet the hope of salvation, as you wait and watch with your lamp burning bright.

Jesus told this parable on the Tuesday before Good Friday to prepare His disciples to be ready at all times for His Coming Again.

And this morning, He lovingly prepares you for that Day as He always has. He makes you wise by filling the lamp of your heart with more oil. And you need that oil always, because your faith is constantly under attack, both from without and within. Perhaps your faith in Jesus has grown cold and you’ve compromised. Perhaps you find yourself honoring God only with your lips, but your heart and actions are far from Him. Perhaps you hear the Word of God, but you don’t do it, which to God is as though you never really believed it. Perhaps your heart is so filled with love for the things of this world that you no longer have room for true repentance and true love for Jesus.

If so, dear ones, repent. Allow Christ your heavenly Bridegroom rekindle the oil of your faith again this morning. Let Jesus stir up that thick-as-molasses heart and fill it with oil. For the Bridegroom who two days later forgave those sleep, unprepared disciples in Gethsemane, is prepared and ready to forgive sluggish and drowsy Christians right now.

For the wise, He is the Bridegroom of No Surprises. He was not surprised when He came to a world that hated Him. For that is why He came. To exchange His love for the world’s hate. This world will come to an end. He has always told us. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word will not pass away. Cars and trucks and RVs and deer stands will pass away. All those tests you crammed for will mean nothing on that Day. All that will matter is faith in the Bridegroom who is coming.

CS Lewis in the Narnia tales described life in this world as a book, but only as the cover and title page. The life to come he described as Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read and which goes on forever. And every chapter is better than the one before. That life, my friends, is already yours by faith.

And that’s because Jesus wasn’t the typical Bridegroom. He does see the Bride before the great wedding. In fact, He found her in the filthy garments of her sin, took them for Himself, and prepared and dressed her by covering her with the glorious garments of His blood and righteousness. He chose His best man to be St John the Baptizer. But you, His Church, receive the honor of being His beloved Bride, presented to Him in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; hold and without blemish (Eph 5:27).

He wore no tux. Rather He chose to hang on naked on a Cross, ashamed and condemned, so that you might be clothed, forgiven, acquitted and made holy. He was the Bridegroom who was the Light of the world, but love you so much that He was willing to have His Body thrown into a dark tomb and the door slammed and heaven shut to Him until the Third Day. He then rose from the dead to open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers, that those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above (Dan 12:3).

Encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. Live in repentance and faith, ready for the coming Day, when the Bridegroom shall take His wise one to the wedding banquet. Until then, come, receive the Foretaste of the Feast to Come, the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom which has no end.

In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.