12 December 2021

Rejoicing in the Cruciform Wisdom and Righteousness of God

It does seem unjust and so unfair.  St. John the Baptist, a righteous and innocent man, is put into prison for his faithfulness, while the Lord Jesus welcomes the tax collectors and other sinners to Himself and eats with them.  What is more, St. John will remain in his prison until he is finally beheaded, all the while Jesus is helping other people, healing the sick, and even raising the dead.

Even so, do not be offended.  This seemingly upside-down and inside-out reversal of things is the foolish wisdom of God at work, giving birth to the children of God by His grace.  It is the justice of God, whereby He justifies sinners and brings them from their sin into His Kingdom in peace.

So, then, what have you come out to see?  And how shall you receive my Baptism?  How shall you react and respond to my preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ Name?

To be sure, I am not the Christ, and it’s not about me.  I rather preach and point beyond myself to the Lord Jesus.  But it is in my preaching and my pointing that Jesus the Christ draws near.

In His Name I call you to repentance — to turn away from your sins in heart, mind, body, and soul — in order to prepare you for His coming, and to present you to Him in peace, according to His good and gracious Will and the Righteousness of God, manifest in His Body of flesh and blood.

Do not be offended by this poor reed, so easily tossed about and shaken by the wind in the midst of this wild and wooly world.  But acknowledge God’s justice, even in this respect, in poverty and weakness under the Cross, in the sure and certain hope and confidence of the Resurrection.

The one who preaches in the wilderness is the messenger of the coming Lord, the expected One.  And the one imprisoned for His Name’s sake goes ahead of Him to prepare His way before Him.  So it is that Christ Jesus Himself will be arrested and imprisoned and finally put to death in due season; for wherever St. John the Forerunner goes, there the Lord Jesus Christ follows after.

It is true that, on His Way to the Cross, the same Lord Jesus Christ does cure many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits.  He opens blind eyes and deaf ears.  He cleanses lepers and raises the dead.  But He does it all by taking all of these infirmities upon Himself, by removing the iniquity of sinners and bearing all the consequences of sin, even death, in His own holy Body.

He acknowledges God’s justice against the sins of the whole world, and He affirms God’s purpose for Himself, for the forgiveness, life, and salvation of sinners, by going to His death on the Cross.

So now the question is, what sort of prison are you locked up in?  What are the shackles and chains that bind you?  And if not iron bars, what is it that has you trapped behind closed doors?

Is it your lust, or greed, or jealousy?  Hurt feelings or unrequited love?  Perhaps it is loneliness, disappointment, personal failure, or your own pride which imprisons you.  Or maybe your sin and shame, your poor health, or depression.  Or, do you rather find yourself locked up in a dungeon by your vices and bad habits, by addictions you can’t shake, or by impatience and a short temper?

It may be that, like St. John the Baptist, it is precisely your faithfulness within your own proper office and station in life that has become your prison and your cross to bear in this body and life.  Perhaps your faithfulness in submitting to a husband who is not thoughtful, kind, and loving toward you.  Or your faithfulness in serving a needy wife who nags and complains and never seems to be happy.  Your faithfulness in taking care of children who demand all of your time and energy, until there’s nothing left for yourself.  Or your faithfulness in meeting the needs of aging, ailing parents, who may not even remember your name or your face.

Whatever it is that imprisons you, no matter how suffocating it may be, the Lord your God declares to you: Do not be afraid, and do not be anxious over anything.  For He Himself is with you in the dungeon.  He is at hand to help you.  Only call upon His Name and pray to Him in every need.

Follow the good example of St. John the Baptist, and ask for a Word from the Lord, for a word of hope and promise — even a word that simply tells you again what you already know and believe.

Ask Him to send His preachers to preach His Word to you, for He Himself comes by preaching.  And gladly hear and learn what He says; take it to heart, believe it to be true, and confess it.

Whatever your affliction and infirmity, Christ has borne it for you, and He now bears it with you.

Whatever the wilderness in which you live, Christ the Lord is there with you.  He is at hand to feed and clothe, to guard and protect.  He is your Pillar of Cloud by day and your Pillar of Fire by night,  going before you as your King and following after as your Rearguard.  For He is a mighty Warrior who has set Himself, not against you, but with you as a Champion against all of your enemies.

There is both a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to eat and a time to fast, a time to repent and a time to rejoice; for it is by death and resurrection that you enter the Kingdom of God.

Repent, therefore, and believe the Gospel.  Turn away from your sins and follow Jesus.  Die to yourself, to your pride and ambition, and live instead by faith in the promise of His Resurrection.  And as He comes to you by the way of the Cross, by and with the Cross that He also lays upon you and calls you to carry, acknowledge the justice of God and do not reject but affirm His purpose.

When He sings a dirge, then weep; and when He plays the flute for you, dance.  Weep for your sin, but dance for joy in His Gospel.  Do not eat the bread and wine of mortal princes who perish along with their food, but now feast at the Table of the Son of Man who gives real Food to the hungry.  Such is the wisdom and justice of God, which He accomplishes for you and gives to you in peace.

Your sense of justice may cause you to retreat and run away from Him in sorrow and shame over your sins and failures.  And your sense of justice may cause you to withhold yourself from your neighbor, because of your neighbor’s sins.  But the justice of God is perfected in His mercy.  His justice is what moves Him to come, to draw near to you in love, to draw you to Himself in peace.

He has taken away His judgments against you by the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ.  And He has cleared away all of your enemies by the same Cross and Resurrection of your Lord.

He is with you now in gentleness and quietness.  And yet, within that peaceful calm, He also exults and rejoices over you with shouts of joy and gladness.  Is that not a most amazing thing?  This Third Sunday in Advent — Gaudete — calls you to rejoice in God your Savior, and rightly so.  But here and now His Word declares that He rejoices over you!  The Lord your God rejoices over you.

He rejoices over you in peace, in spite of your many sins, because He has made atonement for your sins and does not hold them against you.  Repent of your sins, but do not be afraid.  The Lord shall not permit them to harm you, for He rejoices over you.  That is the truth, no matter what you suffer.

He is a friend of tax collectors and sinners, of gluttonous men and drunkards, and of the demon-possessed who neither weep nor dance.  He has made Himself the friend of the poor, afflicted, and oppressed, whatever their personal demons and dungeons may be, whether of wealth or of want.

Child of God, He is your friend in joy and sadness, in misery and merriness.  For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, He pledges you His faithfulness even against death.

And He delights in your faithfulness, too, even if you do find yourself imprisoned by it and for it.  To serve faithfully in the place where He has called you to be, whether in a palace or a prison, and to suffer patiently whatever He may give you to suffer for His Name’s sake, that is a worthwhile calling and purpose in life.  It is not meaningless or pointless, but a testimony to His faithfulness.  It is where you are given to rejoice and be glad in Him, as He rejoices over you in gracious love.

It does not matter that your neighbor has a different place and purpose and lot in life than you do.  And it does not matter that the Lord shows His divine mercy and favor also to those who are less faithful than you.  Do not be offended by Jesus, and do not take offense at the company He keeps.

As Jesus draws near, you will find yourself surrounded by tax collectors and other sinners, by crazy men and lepers, the hurting and despised, the wounded and forgotten, and, yes, by Pharisees and lawyers, too.  He does not despise the children of men, but calls them to be children of God.

Do not evaluate the crowds on the basis of their pedigree or social status.  Do not ask about how much or how little, how big or how small.  Do not count or compile those stats, neither in yourself nor in your neighbors.  This mortal life on earth is temporary, it is fleeting and fluctuating.

One day you or your neighbor are a prince or a princess, the next you are a pauper or in prison.  Or it may be that you pass away in your royal dignity, and then you are buried in your fine apparel and soft clothing — at which point you return to the same dust as all your friends and foes alike.

By contrast, everyone who is born again of the water, Word, and Spirit of God — everyone who is crucified, dead, and buried with Christ Jesus through Holy Baptism — he or she is raised up with the same Lord Jesus Christ, born again to a new life in the Kingdom of His God and Father.

That is the greatness that you share with Jesus and with all who eat and drink with Him in faith.

With a gentle spirit, therefore, be at peace.  Be at peace in your own heart and mind before God, and, in so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people.  Love your brothers and sisters in Christ, in particular, no matter what the prison house that either you or they may be living in.

The Wisdom of God is vindicated by all of His children.  The One who raised Christ Jesus from the dead has justified even you, a sinner, by your Baptism into Him — by your Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection.  And just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally, so are you vindicated and righteous before His God and Father in heaven, unto the Life everlasting.

Whether He sets you free from your afflictions and infirmities while yet on your pilgrimage, or even if He permits you to remain in your personal prison up until the day that you die, He will surely release you at the last from all of the burdens and the bondage of your mortal flesh.

Whether in frailty and weakness, or in faithfulness and strength, the Lord who has drawn near to you in the Cross of Christ now draws you to Himself forever in His Resurrection from the dead.  He has reconciled you to Himself.  And that Peace of God which is yours in Christ Jesus guards and keeps your heart and mind, your body, soul, and spirit, unto the Day of His appearing.

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

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