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Christ grew in Wisdom and we grow in faith in Him.

Posted on by nfuller

And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. If you look at a baby or a child and only see the present state of that person without seeing the future potential for adulthood, then you are missing the full picture of who the child is.  A baby only makes sense in light of the potential for growth.  If you have ever seen artistic pictures of baby boy in a suit and bow tie, or a baby girl in a wedding dress with a veil, these pictures although they look unusual, they point forward to what young boys and girls aspire to, to be adults.

We celebrated the birth of the Savior as a baby just a little over a week ago, and now we see the connection that baby’s are not meant to stay babies- as cute as they may be. A baby cannot have all that much wisdom.  Jesus did not stay put as a child as long as possible. He grew strong, filled with wisdom.

We talked last Sunday in the sermon about how the birth of Jesus paved the way for our own birth as God’s children through the waters of Holy Baptism.  Who we are as children of God does not make sense unless we see the big picture that we were made to grow strong, to grow in wisdom- to grow in our faith. 

It does not make sense to only see ourselves as infants in the faith with no direction for growth- for then what light could we possibly have to give to the world? We prayed in our collect prayer:

“Almighty God, You have poured into our hearts the true light of Your incarnate Word. Grant that this Light may shine forth in our lives; through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.”

How could people in the world out there, people without a living faith in the Lord, how could people appreciate the full meaning of the Word becoming Flesh if they do not see evidence of how the birth of Jesus makes any difference to the world?  How could people know that the light of His incarnate Word has filled our hearts, if our lives do not reflect that life- if we do not grow in strength and wisdom in our faith?

Wisdom is an interesting word for us as the church, in the world we live in today. You can scan the news and wonder where is the wisdom in our world today? God’s wisdom is something different than what we see from prominent figures of culture wars and political movements.  This wisdom is not the same as the type of things Benjamin Franklin wrote: “early to bed, early to rise helps keep a man healthy , wealthy and wise.”  “A bird in the hand is worth more than two in the bush.”  “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

A person can be wise in how to live life.  But apart from faith in the living God, all this such wisdom is really only foolishness, temporary solutions to managing life predicaments.

Look at our Old testament reading: When Solomon became king he was in Gibeon making sacrifices to the LORD. And that night when he was sleeping the LORD appeared to him in a dream and offered to provide whatever was his heart’s desire: “Ask what I shall give of you?” 

Instead of asking for a mighty military or a great palace or other earthly riches, Solomon answered in humility. He reflected on the magnitude of the LORD’s gifts to him and how much of an honor it was to rule over God’s own chosen people. “Although I am but a little child.” Solomon recognized that he had not yet met his full potential. He asked the LORD to bring him to the maturity in which he was designed for.   

And Solomon indeed grew in wisdom.  He was able to govern his people justly and none who came to him were disappointed by his wisdom. He even wrote through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the book of Proverbs, where he especially gives young people direction in how to go about living life as they look toward the potential they have before them.

Solomon’s wisdom, you may recall, did not last.  Solomon was ensnared by wealth and earthly honors and alliances with the world that he formed by means of marriage to many wives who believed in false gods. Solomon fell from being so godly and wise, from pleasing the LORD to becoming a complete abomination in the LORD’s sight. He built temples for his wives of foreign gods.  Sacrifices made to foreign gods, and even child sacrifice.  For whatever reason Solomon lost the first ingredient in wisdom, the fear of the LORD. 

Solomon was not the king Israel needed, they needed a better son of David who was not only a wise king, but also able to save his people from their own self destructive nature.

Already as a boy Jesus was filled with wisdom beyond his years. In our gospel reading we have the account of when Jesus visited Jerusalem as a boy with his family.

Jesus’ parents were returning home from Jerusalem when they realized Jesus was not with them.  Naturally they were worried and rushed back to the city. And where did they find the boy Jesus?  He was in the temple with the great teachers listening to them and asking questions. “And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”

Jesus who was the wisdom from on high, the eternal wisdom through whom the world was made is recorded as growing in wisdom and stature.

How did Jesus exhibit this wisdom? He did so in his preaching. He showed himself to be as wise as Solomon as he taught.  Think of the sermon on the mount where Jesus taught the same wisdom of Ecclesiastes: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.”  And again listen to the wisdom from on high: “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Our Lord himself offers the true and lasting wisdom that evaded Solomon: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”  When we seek first God’s kingdom, everything else will be given to us in the life to come.

Jesus said do not lay up treasures on earth, because the true treasure is not found in gold coins or ancient artifacts, but in Him.  Jesus himself is our treasure.  Remember the great Hymn “Jesus Priceless Treasure”  …..”Hence all earthly treasure! Jesus is my pleasure! , Jesus is my choice. Hence all empty glory, naught to me thy story Told with tempting voice. Pain or loss or shame or cross, shall not from my Savior move me, Since he deigns to love me.”

Our Lord offers to us a kingdom that is far better than the one Solomon ruled. For the kingdom of God, which comes through the preaching of the gospel, will never fall and can never be taken away from us. 

The world in its foolishness says that the cross is a sign of weakness, a picture of shame. The world wants a king dressed like Solomon, it mocks a ruler whose throne is a cross and whose crown is made of thorns. The word is filled with foolish scoffers who think they are so wise. With people who look in the mirror and admire their wisdom.

But the folly of the cross is greater than the wisdom of men, for in that cross of shame we find all glory and honor.

How often have we like Solomon been led astray? How often have we forgotten the wisdom handed to us by parents or by church?  Today we are once again reminded that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

And so we do well to keep hearing the words of wisdom of the Holy Scriptures.  Thanks be to God who gave us his Son, the son of David, Thanks be to Christ the true wisdom on high who in love died on the cross so that we might live. Who paid the price for our sin and foolishness so that we might live forever in his kingdom. Amen.

A Christmas Letdown?

Posted on by nfuller

Why are we here again? Weren’t we just here a few days ago? Didn’t we cover every gospel reading about the birth of Jesus and sing all of the classic Christmas hymns between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?  What more is there to say? How can you top the celebration of Christmas?

 On those years where Sunday follows Christmas fairly closely, there is perhaps an unspoken assumption that we are all going to be tired of each other, like an out of town family visit that lasts a little bit too long. 

It is normal to feel a sense of a letdown after Christmas, just like after Easter Sunday.  The larger crowd of Christmas Eve thinned out, nobody is video recording this service, the Poinsettias are gradually making their way to people’s homes.  And the radio stations, you can’t count on them to play Christmas music anymore.

The winter is only just starting and short sleep or lapses to our routine from Christmas can start to catch up with us, and we can be more irritable than usual toward people in our lives. How quickly things can go from a high to a low! How easily we can end up putting peace and goodwill toward man on a shelf, stored away in a big box with the Christmas decorations.

But as we know, Christmas is not over. We heard God’s Word celebrating the power of Christmas in the world at the start of our worship service: “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!”

Considering that God’s Word is the balm for all our ills and troubles, it is a good thing that Sunday is already here, and we are gathered for worship, and we can experience not a post Christmas let down, but an extension of the celebration of Christmas into our daily faith life.

“Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!”  Although we already know the story of Christmas, when we live out the promises of our faith in the world we are singing a new song, we are alive in Him through faith. The Christmas story continues with our response of faith to the news of the birth of the Savior. We might even say it is the fulfillment of the story.

Our Epistle reading from Galatians begins with a message about fulfillment.  “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.”

The fullness of time refers to God’s plan reaching its moment of ultimate ripeness for our salvation.  This fullness was achieved through the work of God’s Word over thousands of years in the messages of all the prophets, preparing Israel for the coming of her Savior.

And the time had also reached its fullness in the form of the growth and development of the world population. Events in history provided the rise and fall of empires to the point where the people of Israel were dispersed throughout the ancient world, connected by common languages and roads.

But this was not a spiritually prosperous time, but a time of great darkness as people throughout the ancient world looked to false gods instead of the one true God.  The fullness of time included the world’s readiness and need to hear the good news of the birth of Jesus.

It was the right time for us to hear the message.  At worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we heard about the events of Jesus’ birth, God’s loving action in our world- The Word becoming flesh.  Now we hear about the birth of Jesus in scripture verses that include pronouns like ‘us’ and ‘you’ , and those.  Listen in our Old Testament reading from Isaiah how often God’s people are the subject of the scripture.

“The nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.”

What a magnificent image, we are compared to as a crown in the hand of our God. A Diadem, a band of jewels that kings and queens wear.  Fashion accessories are intended to highlight the beauty of the person wearing them.  The jewels add something to the appearance of the wearer and confirm something of importance.

We are jewels in the hand of our God because Jesus has saved us without any of our own contribution.  Our existence in the family of God is a testament to God’s greatness. It is the second part of the Christmas story- our adoption as Sons and daughters of our God.

There is so much in the short reading from Galatians.  It may not be as picturesque and descriptive as the gospel of Luke, but Paul tells all of the important details of the Christmas story, the Word becoming flesh, and includes one more purpose clause  “to redeem those under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons.  “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts.”

Through the Holy Spirit we have been born into a living faith and adopted into God’s kingdom. When Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary it was the greatest miracle in history, God became man.  This is something only the Holy Spirit could accomplish. 

This same Holy Spirit performed a miracle of much lower profile in each of our lives, giving us the gift of New life in Christ. For only through the miracle of God’s work in the waters of Holy Baptism could we have spiritual life.

It is only through this miracle of our Sonship in Christ that our lives can break out of the cycle of repetition that all of creation is destined for. The type of repetition that makes us feel periods of let down or discouragement.

  As Solomon declared in Ecclesiastes: “The sun rises and the sun goes down , and then goes back to the place where it rises.”  Inspired by the Holy Spirit Solomon wrote about how everything in life comes and goes and does not last: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”   

In Christ our lives have more than a predictable cycle of beginnings and endings. In Christ we sing a new song, our lives are entirely different than other lives in history because we have the Spirit of the God who has entered into our history, and who is living in our hearts.

We see this difference to our lives in the close of our Epistle lesson: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba Father!” Because we are sons we call on God as Abba Father.  This is the same address as Jesus uses in the Lord’s Prayer. 

We only can say “Our Father” because we have been made sons through the Holy Spirit.  Only because of the miracle of Christmas can we have the sonship with our God that we can address God as Father in our prayers and in our worship.   

We began reflecting on how easy it can be to have a post Christmas let down where we wonder what is next and feel the weight of life responsibilities outside of celebrating Christmas.  As we have looked to God’s Word in faith we see the fulfillment of the birth of Jesus on that first Christmas connects with our lives in our own birth by the Holy Spirit, our adoption as God’s children. 

This birth from above gives us a purpose in life that does not know let downs.  Because in Jesus we have everything we need, and He does not disappear from our lives as a letdown.  Like Simeon in the temple we may find in the gift of salvation a fulfillment that nothing else in the world can match.

And like Simeon we can confess “Lord now you let your servant depart in peace, according to your word, for my own eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.”  We confess that in looking upon Jesus in faith our life is without question complete and fulfilled. Amen.

The House the Lord Builds

Posted on by nfuller

We have all heard of the honey do list.  Home projects a wife may have for her husband to catch up on- big projects, little projects, usually more than a husband has the energy to visualize or conceptualize doing them all.  We all in our own way have the list of projects we want to get done in the month of December. 

Earlier this week it was refreshing to finish up the Christmas decoration in the Atrium, something we just did not get to several weeks earlier when we decorated. It is, after all a shame to leave the Christmas ornaments in a box and not get to them. Whether it is decorating or looking for gifts for others, or sending Christmas cards, there is much potential for unfinished business in the month of December.

When we went caroling last weekend it was exciting to see neighbors face to face and share the joy of Christmas carols. But it also reminded me of other things on the ministry to do list, that street sign that would tell people driving on highway 40 that the church is around the corner, or the postcards I think it would be worthwhile to send as a mass mailing to our local zip code. 

Perhaps you have your own to do list in your faith, what you would like to do for the church, or even scripture reading schedules you would like to put into practice.

 If you feel like you have some significant things on your list that you are failing to get to, consider what King David had on his list: building the temple for God to dwell in.

King David, once settled on his throne had thoughts about doing something good for God.  David had accomplished so much already in terms of conquests of enemies, building projects throughout Israel- even moving the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem.  But there was something missing. 

As we heard in our reading from 2Samuel chapter 7: Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all of his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”

David had the desire to serve God, yet on account of sin he unfortunately prioritized over the years building something for himself and others rather than building for God. 

David’s family would be racked by problems in the coming years as a result of his own sins of murder and adultery, incest among his children, rebellion from a son. David would die and be buried and his earthly accomplishments turning to dust.

David wanted to build the temple to hold the ark of the covenant, but he would not be the one to build it.  This was not the Lord’s plan for him, but instead the plan for his son Solomon to build the temple.

As is the case with all of the best laid plans in life, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.   When it comes to the “To do lists” we have for our life and our church’s ministry, we are encouraged to look to the Lord for support.  But what is most important is not what we can do, but what he has done for us in the past and continues to do for us.

The house that God builds is what demands the most attention- especially in a busy month of December.  It is always our gracious God who constructs what is perfect and lasting.  God reminded David that it was he, the LORD who in the past had done everything for him and for all people. 

The LORD delivered them from slavery in Egypt. The LORD shepherded them through the journey to the promised land. The LORD gave them rest from their enemies.  The LORD had already provided a place for the ark in the portable tent that was the tabernacle. 

God has built the same house for us.  Like David we can look at our lives and see the same sinful insufficiency David saw in his life.  Our priorities have been displaced by God’s priorities.  Our family is marred by sin, as we break the LORD’s commandments. Like David, we will die and be buried, as everything we build will turn to dust.

But God has done everything we need.  He has delivered us from sin and it’s slavery; we have come through baptism’s water out of Egypt.  Like David, the LORD has built our house by shepherding us with his Word and Sacraments.  He has conquered Satan and all that would threaten us his lambs.  And most important of all he has built for us the ultimate temple- Jesus!

Jesus, the Word became flesh, who dwelt among us full of grace and truth, is the only one in whom the fullness of God can dwell.

Jesus fulfills all of the accomplishments that we cannot fulfill.  He does it all for us.  In verse 11 of our Old Testament reading we hear how God reverses things for David instead of laying out the plans for David constructing the temple, he promises to build David a house!

The house God promised was Jesus and the kingdom of God that he brings. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

The reading continues, verses not in our bulletin selected reading:  “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up for your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

We see what this house looked like several generations later when the angel Gabriel spoke to Mary, a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph of the house of David.  This house worthy of the name of the LORD was not found in the appearance of a famous dynasty of kings living in a palace of great wealth, but instead in the form of a young family just getting started in a small back woods town of little significance called Nazareth.

God’s ways are higher and greater than our ways. Instead of building a great temple, the house of David reached its ultimate power in the birth of a baby named Jesus.  He would be the temple that all the glory of God is contained within.

In John chapter 2 Jesus even called himself the temple, predicting that he would take the ultimate destruction, your eternal damnation, on the cross and rise victorious as your eternal king.  And Jesus spoke about how we continue in receiving the great promises of the house of David through Him, as we have been grafted into the line of David by faith.

John 14:2  “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?”

Revelation 21:3  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be there as their God.

You now have David’s hope that “God builds the king’s house for you.” God builds the house when you hear his Word guiding you in His grace. You are commissioned to like David was told, “Do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

The Tabernacle and the temple of the Old Testament did not endure. The cloth tent was never intended by God to be a permanent structure. The temple built by David’s Son Solomon was eventually destroyed  after 400 years.  It’s replacements were also destroyed not all that long after they were built. God wanted His people to have lasting hope, not in earthly things or in their own accomplishments , but in His eternal king , Jesus and in His eternal kingdom. 

God’s ways are higher than our ways.  We hear this often as we read through the scriptures, and it is reflected perhaps no clearer than in the promise to the house of David.

David’s reaction to all of this news of a house being built for him is recorded in verse 18 of chapter 7  “Then King David went in and sat before the LORD and said, “Who am I O LORD God and what is my house that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes O LORD God.  In verse 26 we hear: “Your name will be magnified forever, saying, “The Lord of hosts is God over Israel, and the house of your servant David will be established before you.”

Does this sound similar to our gospel reading? Listen as Mary hears about the same promise made to the house of David through the angel Gabriel. “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant, For behold from now on all generations will call me blessed.”

And we also are called blessed, as we receive the inheritance of our faith. We began focusing on those TO DO lists in our life. As we have considered how ‘Unless the LORD builds the house those who build it, labor in vain’,  Our blessing is not in what we can accomplish, but in the House that The Lord builds for us, the kingdom He has prepared for us. Amen.  

Restoration for God’s people

Posted on by nfuller

Have you ever tried to restore something? Restoration is to bring things back to their original beauty and place of belonging in the world.  I am not the most skilled builder, but I have restored many items with sufficient sentimental value with super glue, including those items that were a causality of young children’s activity.  Some of the items you would never even know that they were ever dropped- or run through the spin cycle of the dryer.

To bring something back to its original state. There is something very appealing about restoration in our time today.  Many homes in Irvington have gone through restoration to make them closer to the original beauty and style that they were built with. 

Restoration also tends to include some modern infrastructure for improved heating and cooling efficiency.  Often an older building has more character and beauty and enjoyment than newer buildings that are more concerned with saving money or cutting corners. And there is a spirit of joy in restoring what was almost lost, not giving up on it, putting blood sweat and tears into the project.

Here in the second Sunday of Advent, Restoration is illustrated as God’s plan from the beginning. We heard in the Introit: “Restore us O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!  We know this restoration involves more than what superglue can fix. It’s more than a face lift or a new finish of paint. 

But just like the beloved home that is painstakingly preserved, just like teddy bear whose arm is carefully stitched back on- the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  God looked in love at the vine that came out of Egypt and once filled the land with deep root and blossom, the vine that turned bad and lost all its glory and beauty – and God sought to restore His people. 

Even though the vine failed to produce good fruit, even though the people sinned and sought after false idols God set forth a righteous branch from the stump of Jesse.  The righteousness of Jesus, the Lion of Judah was sufficient to make up for the unrighteousness of all people. 

The Father set forth a master plan whereby the sin that runs as deep as every cell in our body could be cleansed. The plan was executed through His Son sent to die on the cross for us, so that we could be completely restored into the image of God as Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden before the Fall.

We who have been born of water and the Spirit, Jesus looks at us in love and says: “behold I make all things new.” Without doubt we were worth restoring. There never was any question, from the beginning the Father was willing to pay the price in blood for our restoration. 

Because of this great restoration, we have the promise of comfort, hope, and consolation.  These are the messages from God the prophet Isaiah brings to us.  Isaiah is proclaiming a redemption after destruction.  As bad as things are or have been, something has changed in a wonderful way.  “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfareis ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” 

The gospel is a double blessing, it is not just that our sins are forgiven and we are spared condemnation, but because of God’s Word, we are also brought beyond the limitations of our lives to the glory of God.  “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

We are restored and brought back to our original state and then some.

We know who was the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord- it is a particular person in history, John.  John the Baptist is a figure of great importance. He is a figure of prophetic fulfillment.  Jesus says Elijah has come, and he means John.  Jesus described John as in a category above all other prophets: I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Nobody born of woman is greater than John, and what does John say: “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

John, who is greater than all who are born of woman was born to point to the one who was born of the Spirit.  His purpose was to stir up our hearts to repentance, to prepare the way for Jesus.

And although his message of repentance is stern and urgent, although elsewhere in the gospels he calls the Pharisees a brood of vipers and talks about the coming separation of the chaff and wheat where the chaff is burnt up with unquenchable fire, although John calls us to repent, his message is indeed one of hope as he is speaking tenderly about the restoration we have in Jesus. 

John brings a message of sweet comfort, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold.  Isaiah spoke words of comfort in chapter 40 after many chapters of warnings of destruction because of sin.  The destruction was still to come for Jerusalem, in fact it was over 100 hundred years away. But even before the destruction happened in history, Isaiah already pronounced God’s Words of comfort.  Their warfare has ended, their sin has been paid for.

 God’s Word speaks comfort to us weary sinners troubled by the coming afflictions in our lives.  We know the time will come when the warfare is over, when we will rejoice in our part in the blessing of God’s kingdom. When the warfare seems to fierce, we do well to stir up our hearts toward repentance to see that no affliction is greater than God’s love.  To hear the sweeping truth about all of creation:  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.”

The result of this comfort from our God is that we have peace.  “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”

We are waiting for the restoration of God’s Word to reach its completion. Right now many in our community and many in our congregation are troubled by the hardship current life circumstances bring.  Many are not in a position where attending worship works for the health interest of themselves or family members. 

Sometimes this can even be out of a matter of conscience of not wanting to bring illness to others. It is not just in this congregation, all of our sister congregations in this area report attendance is down considerably because of the virus. 

People without spiritual backgrounds are likely to be even more afraid, as it is only for this life that they have hope, and the slightest hint of danger to life is hard to bear for those who do not know Christ as Savior. 

Such people are in need of the comfort of God’s Word.  That is why, even with public concern higher right now, we are still meeting for worship, still offering comfort to our community with a grief share opportunity starting today, and now also Christmas caroling in our church’s neighborhood.

When Isaiah was called into his prophetic role as recorded in chapter 6, he asked how long he was to continue preaching God’s Word. “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people and the land is a desolate waste.”

All through the stage of trials and tribulations this side of eternity the church will continue to point people to Jesus.  Indeed we may face diseases and other trials in coming days more trying than what we face today.

Our task as God’s people is clear, to live as those who have received the perfect comfort and consolation of the good news.  As we wait in faith and behold that our God comes to us in might.   

Waiting in hope

Posted on by nfuller

Here as we begin the season of Advent we are waiting.  Our prayer is that our King would come to us.  As we wait for our king to come we are in a place of transition. We are in an in between state, a time of waiting and watching. There are a lot of ways you might think of yourself as waiting:

Not quite winter yet, not quite the end of the pandemic yet, not quite time for Christmas yet or for a new calendar year. Parents are waiting for children to grow up and grow into their future callings and places in life. Regardless of where you are in some ways you are waiting.  

Many of our hymns and songs for the season of Advent celebrate the end of waiting with the opening of gates as our King comes.  “O Savior rend the heavens wide; Come down come down with mighty stride, unlock the gates, the doors break down; unbar the way to heaven’s crown.”

“Lift up your heads, you everlasting doors, and weep no more! O Zion daughter sing, to greet your coming King: Now wave the victor’s palm and sing the ancient psalm, “Lift up your heads you everlasting gates! Your king awaits!

Psalm 24 provides to us this imagery of the king entering through opening of the everlasting gate: “Lift up your heads, o gates! And lift then up O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.”

The fact that doors are described as ancient and gates as everlasting implies that there has long been a chasm and division between Our God and His people, back to ancient times, back to the Fall into sin:

This world is so full of imperfection and sin, and Heaven is perfect and full of the glory of God.  How is it that the two can meet?  How is it that Jesus our king can come to us?  When there is a barrier and a chasm between heaven and earth? 

Our Old Testament Reading from Isaiah calls for this divide to be broken wide open: “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.”  The coming of our king is no light undertaking, but something that shakes the earth.

Gates and great doors to ancient cities kept control over who could come and go.  The gates protected the city so that those who would bring harm would be kept out and those who would bring blessings and goodness to the city could be let in.

The imagery in the scripture describes all of creation as the city, and in order for the renewal of creation to occur, the gateway needs to be open to a visit from a realm beyond our creation, from heaven.

One thing is abundantly clear, we cannot open the portal, we cannot raise the gates.  We wait for God to come to us and bridge the divide.

We cannot raise the gates, but our Lord Jesus has come to burst open the chains that hold us down in sin, to open the way for God’s kingdom to come among us. Let’s look a little more closely at God’s Word for us to today in Isaiah chapter 64:  “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence- as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make your name know to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence.”

The plea for the Lord to come down is made out of dire need to see deliverance from the hands of enemies. For Isaiah it was those who destroyed Israel who were the threat.

For us today there are no shortage of enemies of the church, including our own sin.

When we pray for God’s kingdom to come this is not just asking for Jesus’ coming in judgement of the unbelieving world, but also this includes Jesus coming to judge us, bringing us the consequences of our sin.

This would be a frightening thing if not for the work of Jesus for us on the cross where he has covered our sin with his righteousness.  We pray for the Lord to continue to curb our sin and with His mighty Word that cleaves down to bone and joint, to cleanse us of our sin and make us a new creation in Christ.

It seems impossible that the chasm between heaven and earth could ever be bridged.  Many scientists claim that there is no way to measure the existence of God, as they claim that we can only know what we can observe and see in the created realm and everything else is not possible.

We continue reading in Isaiah chapter 64 with the next verse, 3  “When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.”

Nowhere in the world has it ever been heard of where a God who acts for those who wait on Him- except for the God of Israel.  Who parted the Red Sea, who opened the flood gates of the waters to deliver His people from pharaoh’s army.  

When Jesus returned to Capernaum it was discovered that he was at home and many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door.  And he preaching the word to them.  And they came bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay, And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My Son, your sins are forgiven.”

The scribes questioned in their hearts: “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Indeed never since the beginning has anyone ever had the authority to forgive sins- to speak words and change someone’s standing from separation with God to peace, from condemnation to salvation.  “But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins- he said to the paralytic, “I say to you rise, pick up your bed and go home.”  As he picked up his bed and walked before them all in plain sight, they said: “We never saw anything like this!”  The heavens were opened and God’s kingdom was coming.

We all need this healing for our sins. The reading from Isaiah continues: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” It is because of our sin that we need Jesus to come, not because of what we have done to build His kingdom on earth. As we recognize how unclean all of our deeds are we see there is nothing to look forward to our hope in through what we accomplish.

The American dream is to earn prosperity and make something of your life through your career. It may sound appealing in early years of life to see how far you can make it in life, and which dreams you can make true. But in the end what we accomplish cannot bring lasting joy, we are still in the in between state in life, waiting for His kingdom to come among us in fullness.

Isaiah continues: “There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.” 

Our actions and accomplishments do not bring God’s kingdom closer to us- they do not life the gate even an inch. Only Jesus has the authority to forgive our sins and bring us to His kingdom.

“But now, O LORD, you are our Father, we are the clay, and you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand.” Jesus has given His authority to us. Through Christ our hands can serve as the hands of Christ. In Christ we can create beautiful things in the kingdom.

A pastor was once out visiting a woman who was a shut in:  “God can’t take me yet.” Stella said, and her pastor was surprised.  He had been visiting shut ins for years and was accustomed to their prayers.  Many of his congregants were ready to die.  But not Stella. This afternoon she said just the opposite, “God can’t take me yet.” She said.  Why? Her pastor asked.  She responded, “Because there are just too many people I need to pray for.” 

Stella’s hands were weak and frail.  Some days she had trouble even holding a cup.  But she knew that when folded in prayer her hands were mighty.  They could even move mountains.  And there were so many mountains to be moved.  She had children and grandchildren, friends and former neighbors, the prayer list she saw in the bulletin at church. All of these people were in Stella’s prayers.  She did not know if they prayed for themselves, but she knew that God had given her time and given her the gift of prayer. Day after day Stella was fervent in prayer that God would come into people’s lives and assure them of his care.  

Jesus comes to us, He opens the gates of heaven to shape us as His own.  In this time of transition in our lives, we pray shape us Lord in this difficult time, even at the summit of darkness create anew as vessels for your glory.  Come to us in our time of waiting so that we see that even on the journey as we wait for the gate to open- you are already with us.

Christmas decoration are a good thing and may bring joy to young and old alike.  But the decorations are not just there to give us a sense of awe over the moment of the birth of Jesus.  We need more than moments of feeling good and cheerful.  We need the presence of Jesus with us, the presence of the Savior who rends down the heavens and comes down.  Whose death on the cross brought the mountains and the whole earth to quake. 

Open the gates we pray. And as we wait for the gates to open we do not give up, we do not grow weary if we shall be delivered- for we have a God who acts in love. None of the rulers of this age understand this, as they say ‘where is your god’  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” We wait in hope for his coming.

Why should we give thanks this year?

Posted on by nfuller

With voices united our praises we offer and gladly our songs of thanksgiving we raise.  With You, Lord, beside us, Your strong arm will guide us. To You our great Redeemer forever we praise.  Why are we here this evening? Why have we come to join praises and songs of thanksgiving? There are a lot of reason why people could not come to such a service as tonight. Driving in the dark is a barrier for many. There are ongoing fears about infection rates of Covid 19.  Why should we gather for thanksgiving when the fallen world we live in has been a bit trying as of late? Perhaps it would have been practical to not meet and give thanks.

A new strain of virus has changed the course of many aspects of our everyday lives. Some people have lost loved ones.  We are praying for the health of one of our members who is now hospitalized because of this virus. Coinciding with this virus we have seen significant efforts in our land to use the virus as an opportunity to seize power and control, whether within families where domestic abuse and child abuse rates have soared. Not much to give thanks about.

In our media and news industry which has sought to increase fear of the virus and has sought to undermine those in leadership in our land in order to advance their social agendas.  Without getting lost in a conspiracy theory direction we are observing that many in positions of government themselves appear to have taken the opportunity of the virus to condemn and limit religious gatherings or exercise new levels of control over people beyond what is necessary for our protection. We are seeing spiritual warfare in growing intensity in our land, where the truth is obscured and can be bought with a price, whether in elections or in other contexts.

In our own lives hardships of the virus have often impacted our ability to maintain our health through limits to recreation opportunities, gyms, or even gatherings such as occasions for fellowship at our church. And let’s not forget the realistic fear of how we might inadvertently spread a virus to friends or loved ones without intending.  Our quality of sleep and quality of life and our peace of mind has been tested in this past year.

So again I ask why should we gather for thanksgiving this year? 

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.  9 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places  Habakkuk chapter 3.

Our cause for Thanksgiving is not conditional on how our year has gone. Because we know that in this fallen world there will be times of draught, the crops may fail and our very livelihood may appear to be in ruin.  We know from God’s Word that although things around us may fail, God’s Love is unconditional, His grace is sufficient for all of our needs- including many difficult events of 2020. 

This is the essence of faith, that regardless of appearances we know that our Redeemer lives. Listen to the complaints Job lists and how he responds: I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer;  I must plead with him with my mouth for mercy. 17 My breath is strange to my wife,  and I am a stench to the children of my own mother.
18 Even young children despise me; when I rise they talk against me.
19 All my intimate friends abhor me,  and those whom I loved have turned against me.
20 My bones stick to my skin and to my flesh,  and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 21 Have mercy on me, have mercy on me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has touched me! 22 Why do you, like God, pursue me?  Why are you not satisfied with my flesh?

Like Job, we can look at suffering and difficulties we have faced, cancer diagnoses that have separated us from loved ones, times when we have been humiliated and hurt by this fallen world and we can conclude “the hand of God has touched me! We are scorched by the trials of this world and there is a large scar.  And yet Job looked in faith to the promise of the Savior:

23 “Oh that my words were written!  Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
24 Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth,
26 And after my skin has been thus destroyed,  yet inmy flesh I shall see God,
27 whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
    My heart faints within me!

When we look to the cross we see that despite appearances of betrayal, and scourging, whipping and mocking and humiliation and untold suffering, God’s love shines through unbounded. The love Jesus gives us in willingly laying his life on the cross is always there for us. We do not look to the world around us for evidence that God is good or for reasons to be thankful , and yes there are many reasons, but we look to the cross and there without doubt is the evidence, Jesus loves us.

And even as I describe the hardships of this fallen world we know the good and plenty the lord provides for us. We have been training ourselves to notice these things every Thanksgiving season, the imagery of the horn of plenty is familiar to us. The blessing pour out abundantly.

Our gospel lesson helps us to see that it is good to ask for these blessings.., and these blessings are especially known to us in the form of the good things of the kingdom, and the gifts of the church.  If we ask in faith to hear more of God’s Word, and be comforted and guided by God’s Word, the Lord will grant this prayer. The Holy Spirit will fill us with abundance.  Though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam,  though the mountains tremble at its swelling.  No matter what hardship we face, even the very earth itself shaking, God is in our midst.

 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

No matter the obstacle, when we pray for the good things of the kingdom God is in our midst, present with us.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Our Heavenly Father indeed gives good things to us as we ask.  We can give thanks that as we seek to grow in our faith, we will be rewarded with this end. As we cry out as beggars for Jesus to fill us and carry us through the hour of trial- we know Jesus is there granting us our greatest need, his presence. Amen.

Jesus makes all things new

Posted on by nfuller

The Last Sunday of the Church Year. As we observe the end it is a time to prepare for a new beginning.  We are ending a church year this morning.  For those who are looking forward to the year 2020 being over with the superstitious hope of relief from a difficult year, perhaps there is some comfort in ending a church year. It may not be 2021 yet, but it is a new start for Christ’s church, it is a new start for Christ Lutheran church as well.

We are also celebrating a new start in music in our congregation.  Jessica Brandt, Music Director of Christ Lutheran Church, to be installed in a short while.  Jessica you are starting a calling of service as a commissioned church worker in a church body with a tradition of music that goes back hundreds of years, the Lutheran heritage of music is rich and full of hope. Full of hope because of our faith in God’s Word.  For many generations music has served the purpose of communicating God’s Word in our church. 

Music is often the way in which people can most easily relate to the law and gospel message of hope in our worship service.  I took a poll of our confirmation youth about the favorite part of worship and for all four the answer had to do with our hymns and songs of the liturgy. 

One of my earliest memories of applying worship and church to my life at home as child was playing with toys in what was called the toy room in my parents home, and finding myself drawn to rehearse in my mind the chorus of the Hymn “This is the Feast”. 

And I remember thinking at this age it is a good thing that people gather for worship and sing these hymns, and thinking that everybody should be a part of this, how sad if people are not attending worship, and not hearing these words about  ‘The Lamb who was slain who has begun His reign. Alleluia.’ 

God’s kingdom is all about new beginnings.  When we struggle with the weight of our sin. When our failures are so heavy and weigh us down almost more than we can bear. Jesus tells us, “Behold I make all things new.” Each and every one of us here can use a new beginning.  And what is new in God’s kingdom is not new or strange, but instead a continuation of what God has promised all along: “They shall be my people and I shall be their God.”

Our Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians provides us with an in depth survey of what is marvelously new in God’s kingdom because of what Jesus has done.  Because he is risen from the dead, we too shall rise. His resurrection as the first fruits of all who believe.

“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  Here in the late fall, we celebrate first fruits. When the leaves are dying, when the death of sin appears all around us, we see in God’s Word there is life through Jesus’ resurrection.  His resurrection is just the beginning, the first fruits.

“But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.”

We are looking forward. A lot of self help books talk about the merit of living in the present moment, so that you do not worry too much about the future or fret about the past.  These books are half right. 

It is good to live in the moment, because in the moment Jesus is in control and reigns at the Right hand of the Father.  In the present Jesus is with us, now is the time of salvation, Jesus has won the victory already. We know this joy, we live in these fruits of his victory on the cross.

And we also look to the future where our joy will be complete, when the New Heaven and Earth is here. It is always important as God’s people that we are forward looking, because God’s Word speaks so often of the future, of the great Day of the LORD.

Our gospel reading also provides a look into this future.  “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” From this throne we hear an imagery of a shepherd separating sheep and goats.  Sheep and goats are both useful animals and very important to those people who depend on animals for milk and meat. Sheep are not intrinsically good, and goats are not in any way associated as wicked or evil.   They are similar in the size they are and similar in value to people.  And yet there is no difficulty telling them apart.

Those who are sheep are those who God has called to be His people.  They are in many ways the same as those who are called goats, except for the difference of their faith and the works their faith produces. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, that the sheep may inherit the kingdom prepared for them since the foundation of the world. 

From God’s perspective the works of the sheep look very different than the goats. This is because the works of the sheep are a response to God’s love.   In the compassion toward those in need the sheep have embodied God’s love. 

The sheep had no way of knowing that as they were helping those in need- it was as if they were taking in Jesus in a time of need and caring for Him.  This is the work of faith that great things are accomplished through the work of God’s Word. 

Works of faith have an appearance and a quality that touches many in the world and draws them to want to know more about life in God’s kingdom.  This is the same as how sacred music works, it is inspired by faith and love, and not hate or anger.  The presence of God’s love and truth in our hymns and instrumental tunes shows through as a fruit of faith.

Jesus designed His church with a purpose.  All of these works of faith are for a purpose, our worship services, the rhythms of the church year have the purpose of pointing us to the Last Day when Jesus returns as judge. When Jesus returns, he will raise all believers, he will come to collect the rest of the fruits of his resurrection, our resurrection.   

The heritage of the past of Lutheran music is not the only reason why we sing these hymns and maintain our organ and choirs and other instrumental contributions. We are not Installing Jessica as music Director because it is what Lutheran congregations have always done. Instead we are valuing music because it points us to the joy we will know when Jesus returns.  Everything we do in church is for a reason, and that reason is so that we see Jesus.

Our congregation is installing Jessica as music Director because we know that God’s Word does not return without result, and we will connect with people in our community with music, whether those who visit worship, an organ concert, a community gospel song festival or Christmas caroling. 

We ourselves , the congregation need to hear the music, so that whatever we are going through in life, whatever the strife or hardship, that music can help draw out our emotions, let go of our tensions and bring us to a focus and contemplation on eternal things, so that we may follow the lesson of Psalm 46, “Be Still and Know that I am God.”  And as we are still, we are ready to hear God’s Word proclaimed to us that Jesus’ love transcends all things.  

My first hope is that it will be a short stay here at Christ Lutheran, as in something far more important will come up- the return of Jesus.  But my second hope is that the music ministry of Christ Lutheran Church will be a great blessing for you Jessica and your family and the family of Christ Lutheran for countless years. Amen.

There is no place like home

Posted on by nfuller

“There is no place like home”  It’s hard to find a more iconic movie quote than Dorothy’s desperate wish to be back home safe and sound instead of all of the dangers of the land of OZ.  When bad things happen, there is no place like home.  When you do not feel safe, there is no place like home.  

“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars O LORD of hosts. My King and my God.”   There is room for everyone in God’s kingdom. “How lovely is your dwelling place O LORD of hosts! For a Day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.” If on an earthly level there is no place like home, then even more so is this true in God’s kingdom on an eternal level.

What makes a home such a beloved place? I have lived for various periods of times in dorm rooms and apartments that are fairly stable structures, brick and stone, concrete and wood.  Of course they did not feel exactly like home.

The buildings themselves are not what makes a home so comfortable and secure, but instead the sense of identity a person has in a home, and in many cases because of relationships past or present with others in the home.  There is no place like home because home is where we can feel belonging and love. 

Home can also be lonely.  In time even little girls in Kansas like Dorothy grow up and see family come and go. I have lived alone periods in my life before. And I know some in our congregation here live alone.   My experience has been that besides feeling lonely in a home, with the Lord’s presence there is solitude and contentment. 

There is a greater belonging prepared for us as God’s people.  It is the belonging in God’s kingdom that we have received.  This place to belong will find its ultimate fulfillment when Jesus returns, when the Bridegroom comes to take his bride the church to the wedding feast.  

What did we pray in the Collect of the Day about coming home? “Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son to lead home his bride the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal Wedding feast.”

The prayer asks Jesus to lead us home.  Knowing Jesus is leading us, we can feel secure. We can know joy already as we await the wedding.  To be engaged to be married is to have hope and to anticipate a future.

Without weddings and marriage there would be no family, no home to make us secure. The wedding feast of the Lamb, that’s what gives us belonging in eternal dwellings.

Building a home together with family is a wonderful thing. Furniture selections, paint colors, flower gardens.  Our brother in Christ JD moved in with his daughter’s family back into the home he and his wife built for the purpose of raising their children. He told me it brings him joy to be in a place with so many memories, with family, a place that is home. And the landscaping and the flowers are indeed beautiful there!

We are building a home as a church family.  We build this home, not just with brothers and sisters at Christ Lutheran, but with all of the body of Christ. The common bond we have in the work of the gospel is a beautiful thing.

We build this spiritual home with faith, with God’s Word.  With the hymns we sing, with prayers of faith, and with lives that live out this faith.  

Simple actions of hospitality and fellowship build bonds in the body of Christ.  Some of our members entered into the community of Christ Lutheran Church through Euchre night at the church.  Others may have been moved by the fellowship meals after church. (Remember how meaningful those were for our congregation up until March of this year?)

In some cases Christ Lutheran has become a spiritual home through an invitation at a restaurant or place of work, or through attending Bible Study and then worship at a time in life of great need for God’s Word.

 Since I have been here I have been heartened to witness the ongoing building of a spiritual home with an event like the Spaghetti dinner which brought so many of our youth together and our congregation members and even many visitors from the community. 

You could see the spiritual home growing at times when we had an Easter Egg hunt and a Christmas party that brought many children together around the joyful events of our Savior’s birth and Jesus’ victory over the grave.

I’m sure many of you can remember many a past Easter Sunday we celebrated here, or a memorable and enriching Christmas Eve service or Thanksgiving Eve Service.  These are memories of our congregation, the body of Christ, building a sense of home in this corner of God’s kingdom.

All of this building comes through Jesus.  We build on the foundation of Jesus alone.  By God’s abundant grace, in those meaningful moments in our faith and in our community in Christ,  we are very much like like the five wise virgins who have prepared in faith for the coming of the bridegroom, with plenty of oil for our lamps so that they do not go out.  Our faith is strengthened and enriched and made alive through Jesus the living Word of God.

At the same time there are many in this world who consider all of this effort to build a spiritual home as folly.  They would see it a waste of money to keep up a church building that has air conditioners units go out and other building maintenance costs, 5,000 dollars here and 5,000 dollars there, and that is not to mention the building loan churches are often paying.

We could wonder why we put so much effort into building a spiritual home.  I have met Lutherans who have left smaller congregations in the city similar in community context as here, such as Emmaus, or St. Peter’s.  A few years back I met a man who was a former chairman of a smaller congregation. He described me how hard it was to stay afloat as a smaller congregation in the city, and he thought it would just be easier if such churches would close and have everyone join a larger congregation.  In other words, he wondered if the house is worth building and maintaining.

Our sinful human nature may speak to us and tell us that it is too much to bear, that we cannot build the home in the same way as it once was, too many opportunities have been lost, numbers are too few.

Many in this world would say that everything about our faith is a waste of time.  They prefer to spend their attention and energy on things they can see has a tangible result.  They would say, what are all of your prayers going to get you? Will God really be there for you in your hour of need?

They are like the five foolish virgin who became drowsy and slept when there was no sign that the bridegroom was coming.  They moved on to other things in life, and only at the last hour when the cry went out that the bridegroom is here, then they seek to prepare a spiritual home in haste and desperation.

“Watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour.”

Jesus is teaching us to be ready for the last day, when the bridegroom will return and call all of the faithful believers to the eternal marriage feast. When Jesus returns we will be prepared because we will be filled with Christ. 

This Word has sustained you through trials and temptations, it has brought healing and forgiveness to your sinful life.  It has strengthened your faith to endure even the day of persecution.  Your lamps are generously and lavishly filled with Christ.

Your lamps are filled with Christ in his font, where faith in Him was created, where you first entered into His kingdom.  As you repent of your sins and remember your baptism your lamps are filled.

Your lamps are filled with Christ at this table. Here Christ enters your body and your soul to forgive your sins and strengthen your faith.  

I know some of people this time of the year, colder weather, and even look forward to winter. However for many, less daylight, colder weather, a virus that persists to disrupt our life, makes for a difficult time to live through.  No matter the attitude it is for all of us, a great time to fill our lamps with the oil of faith.  Amen.

Coming out of the Great Tribulation

Posted on by nfuller

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

As we hear from chapter 7 of the book of Revelation, what did John see? As he was exiled on the Island of Patmos on account of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus John was shown many amazing things beginning with a vision of the glorified Jesus and continuing with visions of the saints surrounding the throne of God.

Our reading from Revelation chapter 7 began with John seeing an additional angel besides those who had been given power over the physical earth. An angel who ascended from the rising sun, with the seal of the living God.  John heard the angel call out with a loud voice to the four angels that were given power to harm earth and sea.

John heard from the angel the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from every tribe of the sons of Israel. Each and every tribe from Judah down through Benjamin. 144,000 This number of completeness, this multiple of 12, communicated that all of the people of Israel were preserved and saved. The promises the Lord made to his people have been kept.

Remember Genesis 15:5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.  The promise has been kept. 

And the promise was not only made to the tribes of Israel.  The LORD told Abraham, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all families of the earth shall be blessed.”  John heard the angel speak, and then John looked, and behold:

“A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

Earlier in Revelation chapter 5 the song of the Lamb described how Jesus won and ransomed this multitude. “Worthy are you to take the scroll and open its seals, for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation”

This multitude John saw, this was the result of the victory Jesus won on the cross.  This was the reason Jesus taught that the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for righteousness sake- all of these are blessed because they have the victory in Christ.

John saw, and heard, and beheld these things and then John was asked to speak, “Who are these clothed in white robes, and from where have they come from?”

John answered in faith, rather than his own explanation he invited the elder to speak God’s truth: “Sir you know” 

We confessed these words as a congregation in the Introit: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.”

What is the great tribulation?  It is the suffering and trial that is a part of life in this fallen world.  The tribulation includes the attacks of Satan and the attacks of sin in the world on the believer. The tribulation is the last gasp desperation attempt of the darkness to undo the victory Christ won on the cross. It is like the villain or beast in movies that at the last moment while it is falling down into the abyss, grabs a hold of the ankle of the hero. But the last desperate attempt is too late:  Satan is defeated.  Tribulations come at a fierceness that tests our resolve and fortitude, but Satan is defeated.

Jesus warned of the great tribulation, the trials believers will face. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you”

Remember the word that I said to you, A servant is not greater than his master “If they persecuted me they will also persecute you.  If the world hates me they will hate you.”

For some the great tribulation is persecution. Last week in a country and culture very similar to ours, France, believers were struck down and killed while worshipping in church, the third attack in the last few months.  For others persecution may mean the loss of job or livelihood or reputation in society on account of their faith beliefs.

In Matthew Chapter 24 Jesus foretold the destruction of the temple and the tribulations that were coming. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.”  Jesus described shortly after this tribulation how the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heaven will be shaken.”

And after these tribulations are over. Like the breaking of the dawn, Jesus will appear. “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”

The time of tribulation began already after Jesus ascended into heaven. The church has long throughout its history understood that we are in the end times, we are in the tribulations that happen before Jesus will return.  We can feel the weight of the tribulations as we consider all of the sufferings we face in our world. Sin and illness, and even viruses that take us to our knees.  When we reflect on loved ones we have lost in our lives, we feel the tribulation of the greatest enemy of all in death.

All of these who have gone through this great tribulation, including all of the saints over the years who are unknown to us, we celebrate Christ’s victory in their lives today during All Saints Day.  And it is not only those who are unknown to us from the past that we celebrate, but also we celebrate that included in this vision John was shown are people like you and I who yet live faithfully on earth. 

All those faithful in our world today, brothers and sisters in Christ who we know and have been impacted by in our life, are also counted as those who have washed their robe and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

This is why we pray in the proper preface to the Lord’s Supper that we join with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven in celebrating the marriage feast of the lamb.  It is a great blessing that we can celebrate the Lord’s Supper every Lord’s Day, because each time we gather for worship and come before the throne of God in the Lord’s Supper, we join with those who have gone before us, those who we miss, we join with them before the throne of God.   

What are the robes, what do they mean?  The robes are the garment of Christ’s righteousness that covers us, and makes us worthy. The robes help us to see ‘to God be the glory, not us.’

Forget everything you were ever taught about how to do laundry and how colors mix. Because our God has made a new thing, where red makes white. The blood of the lamb cleans the robes of righteousness and makes them perfectly and completely white.

And with these robes we are perfectly prepared and qualified to be there before the throne of God.  This is a marvelous picture of heaven, beyond what we can imagine, as we offer service or worship before God day and night.  We can hardly imagine what it means to no longer hunger or thirst, to no longer feel scorching heat or numbing cold.

How incomparable to anything we have experienced that Jesus will be our shepherd and guide us to springs of living water.  And wipe away every tear from our eyes. 

There are so many reasons for tears, the aging process we experience, the inevitable march of change from one family context to another, graduations, bitter sweet moments of change, losses- sometimes even before the expected time. 

In a world full of tribulations tears are the normal and here it was revealed to John what t he new normal is, not masks or procedures for safe public engagement but instead palm branches and songs of triumph.  One of my favorite verses related to perseverance through trial in the Lutheran Service Book is stanza 5 of For All the Saints: 

“And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia, Alleluia.”  The triumph song although distant comes to us especially when we are worn and weary by the troubles of this passing world. 

John saw and heard some amazing things while he was exiled on the island of Patmos. And these things are written that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, that in believing we may have life in his name.  We see what John sees, the Lamb reigning on His throne.  Amen.

Who is really in charge?

Posted on by nfuller

Our service began with a familiar psalm , Psalm 121 “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”   There are many authorities and rulers in this world. We are in an election season which makes it even more apparent what impact human authorities can have on our life. But there is a limit to what role human authority can have on us. In time all those in authority over us will come and go.  The LORD reigns forever. 

Temporal rulers cannot save us. Even as we are governed by human authorities, we see the LORD’s hand in protecting us through the imperfect rule of government, “He will not let your foot be moved; he who keep you will not slumber.”  Our Lord is protecting us so that we keep our sights on our future in God’s kingdom.

The kingdom of the left, which the church understands to be all secular rulers and authorities, rules through coercion, consequences, through cause and effect uses of the law. If you do not pay your taxes there are consequences, if you break the law there are consequences.

This is the only way it could work. The Federalist papers in American History talked about how if men were angels no government would be necessary.  Rule and authority in government is only needed because people want to break the rules, serve only themselves, often at the expense of others.

The Right hand kingdom or the kingdom of the church does not move us by coercion. We may talk as Christians about what is wrong to do and that we should follow God’s law, but we never force or pressure people to follow God’s Word. We know that the law does not move people to faith.

Unfortunately some churches have tried this use of the law to coerce people into believing.  In my role as a professional counselor I have talked to several people who say that because they felt forced to follow God’s Word, they no longer choose to believe. We do not need the law to motivate us as Christians, because when it comes to our motivation, it is through love.

Christ has taken care of everything.  We are moved to care for others because of the gospel.  Coercion and punishment gets results, for a time.  But the power of the Holy Spirit has the power to work results of faith in our lives, results that are eternally secure.

We heard in our Epistle reading:  “But your faith has gone out everywhere.”  The Thessalonians willingly and eagerly turned from idols to serve the living God.  They were not forced to do this by laws that said they must be Christians, they chose this path of righteousness all by themselves.

What a beautiful contrast, the difference between the ways of the world and the law and the ways of God!  The example of God’s saints has tremendous power. 

When I was a seminary student I took an Amtrak train to visit Kirksville where I went to college, to preach for the first time at the LCMS congregation there. A man nearby in the train asking me what I was reading through, and a conversation started about preaching. 

I remember he told me he attended a Baptist church and he was familiar with the LCMS, telling me he lived in St. Louis and enjoyed listening to KFUO the radio station the Lutheran church broadcasts locally there. He told me he believed the congregation members have just as much responsibility if not more for what they get out of sermons.

As in, the hearers should be listening actively for how God’s Word applies to their lives, to the point where focusing more on God’s Word through the course of the week will make for a more fruitful experience of listening to a sermon. I find this attitude helpful for me when I listen to sermons.  This conclusion fits with what the scripture teaches. Certainly, the Holy Spirit works an active part in working repentance and renewal as we sit in church and hear God’s Word proclaimed to us.

Perhaps this is the same with our experience of left hand kingdom authorities who have power over us.  There are plenty of things we can find objectionable about governing authorities- including the fact that they may not be believers.  Yet the scripture teaches us that these authorities are placed in our life to protect us, and embody God’s care and provision over us. 

Does our government allow us the freedom to practice our faith? Does our government provide the security we need in order to live lives of routine and purpose in our daily life? Does our government give us the freedom to be able to speak up for the defenseless or the unborn?  Or does the government put us in positions where to cooperate with the government is to oppose God’s Word, such as when laws require companies to pay for insurance coverage of abortions? 

Does the government offer the freedom to communicate our Savior’s love to the world, or does it seek to curb what we can say about  the gospel, such as if the preaching of God’s Word should be classified as hate speech as some in government positions have argued?

Our Epistle reading from 1Thessalonians provides a view of God’s people making the most of the circumstances where they are ready and willing to live lives worthy of the gospel regardless of the circumstances of how they were received by governing authorities. They were living as St. Paul celebrates- a well integrated life.

A well integrated life- what would that be?  Integration… all the different aspects of one’s life are in harmony, working together, fitting together and not one contradicting the other.  Family, beliefs, values, work identity, friendships, role models in life, favorite music and movies and novels. 

We know what it looks like when someone’s life is very compartmentalized and fractured. The actor who is one person on the screen and in interviews, but an entirely different person with family. Or the high school teacher who talks to youth about driving safety every Friday afternoon, but then gets a DUI over the weekend.

When people have a certain character and consistent reputation and presence no matter where they are and who is watching or not watching-  we know it when we see it. It is something to be desired. 

A well integrated faith in life is a great gift of God! It is such a great gift it can even preach a sermon loud and clear to those around us.

As Lutherans we often talk about our faith in terms of: Law and Gospel. Faith and works. What God has done for us through Jesus, and what we do in response to God’s action, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to love God and serve each other. These are all vital foundations to our identity as Christians. 

But it is also important that we not only think in terms of these distinctions, but that we embody in how we live our lives the relationship between God’s love for us and our response. 

In our Epistle reading from 1Thessalonians the Apostle Paul begins the letter with a great statement of thanksgiving.  A thanksgiving that depicts the beautiful integration of all things of God’s kingdom. “We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith, your labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Paul recognizes the integration of work initiated by faith, labor sparked by love, and endurance brought to life by hope in our Savior Jesus. Paul celebrates work, labor, and steadfastness and sees how these results are grounded in faith, in love, in hope- and in our identity as people who are loved and chosen by God.

In our life as Christians our identity as baptized children of God does not only provide us assurance of our salvation, but it also provides a platform for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives in amazing ways. The Holy Spirit sparks specific actions grounded in faith.

Throughout this text Paul continues to pour out prayers of thanksgiving for these Thessalonians who are living out their faith in all of these ways.  They are demonstrating what it means to serve the true and living God. Paul talks about how these Christians imitated him and other Church leaders, even imitated God through severe suffering.

“And you became imitators of us and the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”  Even in suffering they welcomed the gospel with the joy of the Holy Spirit!   

In verses 7 and 8 Paul notes how they had become models of faith for other believers near and far. “Not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.”

St. Paul had nothing left to say. How often did that happen? Paul witnessed how the Holy Spirit worked in the hearts of these people who had once worshiped idols, and now they have been called to faith! Now they live equipped by the Holy Spirit as well integrated Christians. There was nothing left to say, just his heart welling up with thanksgiving.

As we hear God’s Word written in 1 Thessalonians, as we listen to the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life questions may come to mind about your own faith. How is your faith doing lately? How integrated is your faith in Jesus as Savior with your day to day life? Is your faith and your daily life experiences distant enough where you feel disconnected? Are there specific areas where there are gaps between your faith and your daily life? In your relationships? When you are playing a competitive game or sport? When you have free time to watch tv or surf the internet? Who if anyone are you imitating?

How do you respond when things get challenging? Or when your life isn’t the way you want it to be? How do you respond when faults or fears, or dysfunctions, temptations or addictions grab a hold of you? Do you look at yourself and think you are not the model of faith that others will follow and talk about?

As we reflect on these verses and questions, all of us know where we stand. We are sinners in need of a Savior.  We have failed God in our thoughts  words and deeds.  We have not loved God with our whole heart, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not lived the well integrated life of faith.

But this is exactly where Jesus meets us. He meets us with his perfect life- where life and faith are perfectly woven together. He meets us with his innocent death. He meets us with his blood shed on the cross. He meets us with his powerful resurrection.

He meets us in the waters of Holy Baptism, and as he meets us He exchanges his perfectly integrated faith with our imperfection.  He covers up our imperfection, sends it to the background of our identity so that we can instead live in His forgiveness, His love, His endurance in our lives.  No matter what ruling authorities we have in our lives, our calling from the Lord is the same, our purpose in sharing His love is the same.

We have been blessed richly by our Lord to be in a position to serve Him with faith and life working together, a well integrated life in Christ. May the Lord grant this united purpose in our lives. Amen.