Today this Scripture Is Fulfilled in Your Ears

It is an audacious claim that Jesus makes, not only for the people of Nazareth way back then, but also for you, right here and now. It is a claim concerning Himself, His Person, and His work as the Messiah, as well as a bold assertion concerning the preaching of His Word, that is, the Voice of the Lord which proceeds from His gracious lips and from the mouth of His servants into your ears.

By this Word of Christ — not simply a Word about Him, but the Word that He continues to speak to and for His Church — by this Word the most amazing things are done for you and given to you. But apart from this Word, there is neither life nor light, nor any hope or help for you.

By way of example, consider what great things and what tremendous benefits the washing of water with the Word of Christ does for you and gives to you and to your children in Holy Baptism. It works the forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this — all of this by the power and authority of His Word. Without His Word, it would be water only and not the Life-giving Baptism that it is. But by and with the Word of Christ, your Holy Baptism makes of you a living member of His Body, the Church, on earth as it is in heaven.

It is a pleasant and agreeable thing to hear and receive such lovely Gospel Words and promises, which are most certainly true. And yet, there is a problem: Your sinful heart does not believe and trust this Holy Gospel, for one thing, nor are you satisfied by these gracious Words that enter your ears and fall upon your body and life from the lips of your dear Lord, Jesus Christ.

His promises sound too good to be true as He speaks of deliverance, freedom, safety, and security in the Land of God. So you are skeptical and cynical to begin with. But patient you are not. For you covet and crave more tangible benefits than you have yet seen or held in your hands, and you would much prefer to have the promises of the Lord in your body and life right now, instead of waiting for the Resurrection of your body to the Life everlasting on the other side of the grave.

Meanwhile, your fallen flesh, your sinful heart and mind delude you to suppose that, in contrast to others, you actually deserve to have what you want by some right or rationality of “fairness,” despite the fact that for your sins you deserve nothing but punishment. The Lord does not owe you anything. But in defensiveness and desperation, you get angry, build up a big old head of steam, and become hostile toward the Lord and everyone around you when others appear to be receiving what you want for yourself. Such covetous desire is the root of all temptation and sin.

The same thing happens when it comes to the Church on earth. How often do you hear comments and complaints about what the Church ought to be like, what it should be and do, and how it should make you feel. Comparison and competition with the world are the ruling standard.

How many other such questions and criticisms go unspoken, perhaps within your own thoughts and feelings when you’re not hearing what you want to hear or getting what you want to get? It’s not for me to get inside your head or your heart, but ask yourself whether you are content with the Word of Christ and the gift and promise of His Gospel. Or do you covet what He does not give and resent the neighbor who appears to have what you do not? Are you jealous of Capernaum? Or of that other congregation with more people, more money, more of this, or maybe less of that? Such envy and jealousy will poison your heart and mind against the Lord Jesus and His gracious Gospel.

Truth be told, there are as many differing opinions as to how the Church on earth should be as there are people in the world shopping around for the savior and the sort of salvation that suits them. But there’s no real safety or security in that. No divine Wisdom or divine Life in it, either.

But the dear Lord Jesus bestows what only He can give, according to His good and gracious will, where and when and how it pleases Him, solely by the way and the means of His Word and the preaching of it. He does His mighty works and establishes the Kingdom of God here on earth, not by any might or cleverness of man — far less by any greed or grasping of man — but by the Cross that He first of all bears and then lays upon His disciples, and by the promise of His Resurrection, the surety of your own resurrection, which you cannot see but can only believe.

So, how shall you respond to this preaching of Jesus? Will you receive Him and embrace Him as your Savior on His terms, and rejoice in His divine Life and eternal salvation, although He comes to you and deals with you by and with the Cross? Or will you insist on your own way, on your own expectations, on your own pride and selfishness and greed, and drive the Lord Jesus away?

Oh, to be sure — and make no mistake about it — your unbelief, your sinful rejection, and your rebellion against Jesus will not thwart Him or prevent Him from accomplishing His great salvation. As surely as He has become Man, has sacrificed Himself once for all upon the Cross, has risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father, so surely will His Name be hallowed, His Kingdom come, and His Will be done. The only real question is, what will become of you?

How often shall you throw Him out — if not bodily, then by your attitude, and by your words and actions — before He simply passes through your midst like water through your hands and moves on to others, leaving you with nothing but your bitter resentment, to languish and die in your sins?

Take care, then, how you hear and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as He comes to you and speaks to you. Repent of your sinful unbelief, your covetous lust, and your angry rejection of His Word. Do not insist on your own wants and your own way, but rejoice in His gracious Voice and give thanks that He comes to you in Peace to atone for your sins and to reconcile you to God forever. Repent of all your sins, and find your help and hope and life in the preaching of His Gospel.

It is instructive to contrast the response of Nazareth to the preaching of Jesus with the response of the people in Nehemiah’s day when Ezra the priest read and preached the Law of God to them.

Take your cues from those who heard and repented, who were comforted with the mercies of the Lord and given to feast upon the gifts of His grace. Rather than hardening your heart and mind against the Lord and adding sin upon sin by rejecting and refusing to hear and heed His Word, humble yourself before Him, live by faith in His Word under His Cross, and worship Him with reverence and awe in your body, soul, and spirit. Fear, love, and trust in Him above all else.

It is the great irony and paradox of the Christian faith, that when the Law of God exposes you and condemns you as a sinner, just so does He open you up to His grace and mercy and declare you to be the object of His Gospel of forgiveness. For if you are a sinner, the Lord Jesus is your Savior. But if you refuse to be a sinner, then you refuse and reject the One who is the Savior of sinners.

It is indeed for this very purpose that He has come to you, and for which He has been anointed by the Spirit of God in His Baptism. He is here in the flesh to bear and carry the Cross, in order to save you from your sins, to redeem you from death and the devil, and to bring you to God as a member of His own crucified and risen Body. He comes to cleanse and heal you, to set you free from the bondage of guilt and fear, to fill up your poverty with His heavenly riches, and to feed your desperate hunger and deepest thirst with nothing less than Himself, His Body and His Blood.

None of this according to any merit or worthiness in you, nor by any pedigree or power in you. That is precisely the point! It is all by His grace, by His divine charity, to meet your real need.

If He does not relieve you of your loneliness and isolation; if He does not provide you with the spouse, the family, or the friends that you would so much like to have; if He does not cure all your aches and pains and hurts and anxieties, nor heal all your temporal, bodily ailments; if He does not make you rich and famous, or give you whatever else it is that you have demanded and expected in your sinful thoughts and desires — it is not because He has not come to be your Savior.

On the contrary, the Lord Jesus would have you recognize your real need for Him and so receive Him as your Savior from sin, death, the devil, and hell. And He would have you live by faith in His preaching, instead of living for earthly comforts and worldly achievements, which can be ever so delightful but are deceptive in their appearances because they do not last and cannot save you.

Indeed, if you are blessed by the Lord your God with many and great things here on earth, pray all the more fervently that He would “lead you not into temptation,” but that He would guide you by His Word and Spirit to use whatever He has put into your hands in godly faith and in holy love for Him and for your neighbor. Do not put your trust in such things which whither and fade like grass.

The harsh reality is that, whether you have much or little, your covetous and sinful heart will lead you astray to the left or to the right, either into sinful pride or else into faithless despair.

In your idolatrous fear, love, and trust in yourself and in other false gods, you will get frustrated, angry, and rebellious with Jesus, and you would just as soon cast Him out of your life altogether.

But for all of that, He has come to be the Savior of sinners. He comes to be your Savior, to speak to you the gracious Word of His Gospel, to absolve you of all your sins, to release you from the oppression of your old Adam, and to set you free from false belief, from pride, and from despair.

It’s all right here for you — in this preaching of His Word — sounding in your ears, even now — this Word of Christ that lifts you up and gives you His Life in place of your death and damnation.

Do not let it go right by you, in one ear and out the other. But give careful attention to His Word. Consider it, and cling to it, and take it to heart, irrespective of your fickle feelings and emotions.

It is the Word of the Word-made-Flesh that is here preached to you, which makes of your Holy Baptism a cleansing from transgression, from the vile leprosy of sin, and from the stink of death.

It is the Word of the Word-made-Flesh that is here spoken to you with such tenderness and peace, which feeds you from the never-empty Bread Box and the overflowing Chalice of His everlasting Marriage Feast; for He is your immortal Bridegroom, who lives and does not die forevermore.

As you now hear His voice in your ears, so eat of the Fat Portions which He gives into your mouth, and drink of the Sweet Wine which He pours out upon your lips and tongue for the forgiveness of all your sins. As He has spoken, so does He freely distribute these sacred Portions to you, and to the many who have nothing, because He has prepared this great Feast for His own Name’s sake.

Neither mourn nor weep, but rejoice in the Lord your God. For He rejoices over you in holy Love. As He forgives you all your sins and justifies you in His sight by the preaching of His Gospel, so by His Word does He delight in you with great joy, and by His Word you are strengthened in Him.

It is His Word of the Gospel which sanctifies this day and makes of it the day of salvation for you, and His Word of the New Testament which makes of this building His own House and Home, His dwelling place of peace, that you might live with Him in His Kingdom both now and for eternity.

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

United with Christ Jesus in His Baptism, His Cross, and His Office

It was on this Sunday twenty-five years ago that I had the privilege of preaching for my father’s installation as the new pastor at Our Savior Lutheran Church in Milford, Illinois. Not only does that make this a particularly poignant and nostalgic occasion for me, but I remain convinced — now as then — that the Baptism of Our Lord is an especially appropriate day for an installation, as a compelling opportunity to consider the meaning and significance of the pastoral office.

If I have understood correctly, it was almost nineteen years ago, Pastor Griebel, when you were ordained at Emmanuel-Soest and there received the special gifts of the Holy Spirit which are known collectively as the Office of the Holy Ministry: When you yourself — your body and soul, your eyes, ears, reason and all your senses, and all that you are — were given as a gift of the Spirit to the Church on earth; when the yoke of Christ Himself — the mantle of His holy Prophets and Apostles — was laid upon you, not as a burden, but as a joyous vocation under the Cross; when, in addition to your other vocations as a son (and a son of God in Christ), as a husband and father, you also became a shepherd of the Lord’s flock under the one Good Shepherd of us all.

From the first, there is a particularity to all of this. You were ordained at Emmanuel-Soest, but you were given to be the Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and thereafter to serve at the Veteran’s Hospital and later at Lutheran Life Villages. So, too, you have now been called and are here today given to be the Pastor of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church.

This particularity — this “locatedness” of your pastoral ministry — is a continuation and extension of the very Incarnation that we have so recently celebrated in the Holy Nativity of Christ our Lord. For it is the scandalous particularity of the Christian faith, that we can point to this Baby in this place at this time — and/or to this Man on this Cross at this time — born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate — and precisely (and only) here in Him, we confess, is the one true God in the Flesh, who for us and our salvation came down from heaven to earth.

Now, to be sure, you are not God! You are not the Lord Jesus Christ! But we can point to you — here in this place and at this time — and rightly confess that you are here given to speak with the Voice of Christ to these people, and to administer on their behalf the works of Christ Himself.

That is the very point and purpose for the rite of installation this morning: that we might see with our eyes, and confess with our lips, that God has placed you here to speak and act for Him, and in your Ministry to be His active Gospel-presence among these dear people, for whom Christ died.

Today, you do not become what you were not, but what you have been, what God has given you to be in your Ordination nineteen years ago, is now given to and for Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church right here on St. Mary’s Avenue. In all of its particularities — and we might even say, in all of its peculiarities — God is present and at work in this place, at this time, in and through you.

In this respect, it is so fitting and appropriate that the Lord has chosen this day — the First Sunday after the Epiphany: the Baptism of Our Lord — to install you in this new Office of responsibility. For it is certainly the case that our Lord Jesus did not receive the Holy Spirit for the first time at His Baptism (as though He were previously without the Spirit), but He was visibly and publicly anointed by the Spirit — when He descended bodily upon Him in the form of a dove — to “install” Him, as it were, into His Office and Ministry as the Christ or Messiah, the Lord’s Anointed.

He is the Son of God and bears the Holy Spirit from all eternity, but in the waters of the Jordan River, as the Son of Man, He is bodily anointed as our Substitute and Savior. As St. Luke puts it, “When all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized.” Henceforth, all that He is and does is for the sake of our salvation. And so also for you: Henceforth, all that you are and all that you do — as a minister of Christ and as a pastor of His Church on earth — is for the people of Trinity.

Now, there are many who would say that your ministry is an extension of your own Holy Baptism. But that is only indirectly true, and it is a bit misleading to follow down that road of logic. By all means, there is no greater treasure in your life than Holy Baptism! But it is not by virtue of your Baptism that you speak the Words and work the works of Christ Jesus as a pastor of His Church. Rather, as the Liturgy of the Holy Communion has taught us so well, it is by virtue of your Office as a called and ordained servant of the Word that you forgive sins, and preach the Gospel, and baptize, and distribute the Body and Blood of Christ to and for His people (now also in this place), all in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Make no mistake, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism belongs to all of this, and the waters of your own Holy Baptism are certainly also involved. For in the washing of those waters with the Word you have been united with Christ Jesus in His Cross and Resurrection, anointed by His Holy Spirit, and adopted by His God and Father as a beloved and well-pleasing son. And, as a son of God in Christ, you bear His Holy Name in all of your various vocations. Indeed, your entire life in all its aspects, including your vocation as a minister of Christ, is an ongoing confession of the Christian Creed.

But your pastoral vocation was not given to you in your Baptism. There you were called to be and to live as a child of God. So were you called to be a child of your parents when you were born; you were called to be a husband when you were married; you were called to be a father when your children were born; and you were called to be a pastor when you were ordained to the Office of the Holy Ministry. And you serve faithfully in that Office, as in all of your vocations, because you are a baptized child of God who lives in Christ, and Christ in you, by grace through faith in Him.

But whereas your Holy Baptism united you with Christ in His Cross and Resurrection as a child of God, your Ordination united you with the same Lord Jesus Christ in His Office of preaching and teaching and otherwise administering His Holy Gospel of forgiveness unto others. By your Holy Baptism, you became a disciple. By your Ordination, you were called and sent to make disciples.

As a child of God, you stand in the waters of the Jordan with Jesus, and you hear the Voice of your dear Father in heaven declaring that you are His beloved son, with whom He is well pleased.

But as a minister of the Gospel, you stand on the banks of the Jordan with St. John, preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and baptizing other sons of God in Christ.

The nature of your pastoral ministry is, in many ways, very much like that of St. John the Baptist, but more so. You do not prepare for a Christ who is yet to come, but you preach and bestow the Christ who has already come, and you proclaim His death until He comes again. Even so, it is still the preaching of repentance, which the Lord Jesus Himself describes (on that first Easter Sunday) as being on par with His Cross and Resurrection in its divine necessity. Without such preaching, the forgiveness and life and salvation of His Cross would never be distributed and received.

Thus were the Holy Apostles sent to preach repentance in the Name of Jesus to all the nations. And so have you also been called, ordained, and sent to preach this same repentance in the Name and stead of the same Jesus, for the forgiveness of these dear people who are entrusted to your care.

This is the “Word and Sacrament Ministry” with which you are charged by Christ Jesus Himself. And this “Word and Sacrament Ministry” is no mere cliché. It is to be understood and carried out quite tangibly in your flesh-and-blood preaching, living, and embodiment of the Holy Gospel.

Which means that you will hear the confession of real sins by real sinners, and you will forgive those sins with the spoken Word of Holy Absolution. It means that you will visit frail and hurting people who are hospitalized or homebound, that the Word of Christ might dwell among them and with them in body and soul. It means that you will administer the Holy Communion, putting the true Body and Blood of Christ Jesus into the mouths of His people. And it means, of course, that you will Baptize young and old into His very real and eternally-significant Cross and Resurrection.

In the footsteps of the Holy Apostles, you are sent by the one Lord Jesus Christ in His Name and with His own authority — who is with you in all that you say and do — to baptize, to teach, to pray, to feed the flock with the Word and Flesh of the One who sends you; to speak with His Voice, and to work His own works with His own hands, as it were, all according to His Word:

Whoever hears you, hears Him who sent you; and whoever receives you, receives Him who sent you, even Jesus Christ, your Savior and your God.

With all this in mind, both you and the people of Trinity must realize that you are sent, not only to tell them “about” Jesus, “about” the Gospel, “about” the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation; but here among them you are given to embody the Gospel in your Office, to deal with them with the Law and the Gospel, as the one through whom Christ Jesus deals with them personally. He speaks and acts through you to forgive their sins in fact, and to bestow His own divine Life and eternal Salvation into their ears, their hands, their mouths, and thereby into their hearts and lives.

How shall you rise to this occasion and live up to this Office and responsibility? You shall not, nor can you. But Christ shall raise you up — and so shall He raise up His people here through you.

As a minister of Christ, as a pastor of His Church, you must also live from that same Word that you preach, from that same Body and Blood that you administer, and from those same holy waters with which you baptize. In this respect, you shall find your best example in St. John the Baptist when he was languishing in prison, waiting for his head to be removed, and suffering the doubts and fears of his own sinful heart. What, then, did he do?  He sought a Word from Jesus, the Voice of the Gospel; which is the one and only thing that will sustain you in the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The Lord will seek you out, because He loves you, and He will not let you go beyond the sound of His Voice. But you must also seek out His Voice for yourself, and give ear to it — from your Brothers and Fathers in Christ Jesus — through Individual Confession and Holy Absolution, and through the mutual conversation and consolation of the brethren (especially within your Circuit).

And dear people of Trinity, as you also must live from the Word and Voice of Jesus, which you will hear from Pastor Griebel in this place (under the Cross, in the midst of all the hurts and frailties of life), remember that, as you have heard, so you should also speak a Word of the Gospel — a Word from Jesus — to your family and friends, to your neighbors and acquaintances, and so also to your Pastor, who lives by the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of the Lord no less than you.

Martin Luther offers a beautiful example of how to live such a life in such a way as that. It is said that he would get out of bed each morning and begin his day with the reminder: “I Am Baptized!”

That simple confession of faith sustained his confidence and hope in Christ Jesus, even in the midst of all sorts of personal doubts, ongoing challenges, and numerous threats from all around him. Whenever he was tempted or afraid, he likewise recalled his Baptism by making the sign of the Cross (as he did in all his prayers and at meals), marking himself as one redeemed by Christ the Crucified. He took comfort in the fact that he was baptized into the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, that he had thereby received forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, and that he was thus a beloved and well-pleasing child of God the Father in heaven.

You have that same comfort in the waters of your own Holy Baptism — consecrated and set apart by Christ Himself today in His Baptism. To the human eye and senses, according to the wisdom of this world, it is nothing but a splash of ordinary water (an empty symbol). But to the eyes of faith, according to the gracious Will and Wisdom of God, it is a gracious water of life, a rich and full washing of regeneration. Indeed, it works the forgiveness of sins, delivers from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the Words and promises of God declare: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Grant this, Lord, unto us all!

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

He Is Called the Nazarene for You and Your Salvation

The example of St. Joseph is a beautiful confession of faith. And it is a good example, because the Lord our God is faithful in His mercy and compassion, in all His Words and promises; and because He has saved us from sin and death by His Son, the Child born of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Truth be told, and all appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, it is the Lord your God who has you and your situation and all things in His hands, in His care and keeping. Although you do have responsibilities to carry out, you are not in control of your life and your future. Not really. But neither are your enemies, no matter how big and strong and powerful they may ever seem to be.

No, the Lord your God, the Maker of the heavens and the earth, He is the Author and Giver of Life, and He is the One who governs all of creation for the sake of His Church. He rules the universe for the benefit of His people. And He accomplishes His purposes in love, for the salvation of sinners, by His grace and mercy and forgiveness. Not only “in spite of” those who oppose His will, but even through them, contrary to their own designs — He fulfills His Word and promises.

So, too, He guides and guards His faithful people — including St. Joseph and you — by and with His Word: As written by His Prophets and Apostles in His Holy Scriptures, and by the preaching of His Law and His Gospel through His messengers, whom He sends to speak to you in His Name.

All that He has spoken, He has fulfilled in the Person of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, conceived and born of St. Mary. As He is the Word of God made Flesh, He is the accomplishment of God’s good and gracious will for you and for all people. And all that He is and does — as true God and true Man — is in accordance with the Word of the Lord. So do the Season of Advent and the Christmas story demonstrate and rehearse, year after year, that you should hear and believe in all that God has spoken through the Prophets and in the Person of His Son.

Again this morning, St. Matthew clearly indicates that the events in this story of the Holy Gospel are in fulfillment of the Old Testament Holy Scriptures. And that turns out to be the case even in ways that we would never have been able to guess or figure out for ourselves. In this case, for example, you’ll never be able to find any specific Old Testament Prophecy that says the Savior would be called a Nazarene. In the Hebrew language, though, the root word for both “Nazareth” and “Nazarene” is the word for “root.” And it was clearly foretold in many and various ways that the Christ would be the “Root” of Jesse — from the house and lineage of Jesse’s son, King David.

Sure enough, our dear Lord Jesus Christ is indeed great David’s greater Son, the Root or Nazar of Jesse, anointed by the Spirit of His God and Father to be the King of the Jews, to rule and shepherd His people Israel, the sheep of His pasture. And not for Israel and Judah only, but for all those who are the children of Abraham by faith in the Gospel. And yet, it is truly meet, right, and salutary that you will find this Lord and King, not in Jerusalem, but in the little burg of Nazareth.

He Himself, the Son of God and of St. Mary, is the Epitome of faith and trust in God His Father. To be sure, from all eternity He is of one substance with His Father, of one mind and one will, in and with the Holy Spirit. He is the one true God, now and forever. But in His own human flesh and blood, as the true Man from His conception, even in His Mother’s womb, He is fully devoted to God with His whole heart and mind, His body, soul, and spirit. His human will conforms entirely to the divine will, even to the point of His great anguish, suffering, and death upon the Cross.

In this, He has been consecrated and devoted to the Lord, much as the Nazarites were dedicated to the Lord by their vows and in their obedience. In His case, it is not only for a set period of time, but with His entire body and life, and with His very flesh and blood, even unto death.

It is finally on the Cross that He is called the Nazarene. For by His voluntary sacrifice, He fulfills the Scriptures of the Prophets, and He accomplishes the will of God for the salvation of the world.

His death and burial are on the horizon and anticipated from the beginning, as for example in Herod’s persecution, and in the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt. But God the Father calls Him out of Egypt, just as He will draw Him out of the Red Sea waters of His Baptism. So does He finally call Him out of death and the grave. This, too, is “according to the Scriptures,” just as we confess in the Nicene Creed. And in this Resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead, God the Father calls you also out of death into Life, to be His beloved and well-pleasing son by adoption and by grace.

He calls you by the preaching of His Word to repentance and faith in His forgiveness of sins, and to newness of life in Christ Jesus. He calls you, as He called St. Joseph, to live according to His Word within your vocation as a Christian, and within your own proper office and stations in life.

Although it is true that neither you, nor your life, nor your future are in your own hands — for they are in His hands — it is also the case that He accomplishes His purposes in you and through you, and He cares for others, including His Church on earth, by means of your faithful service.

Here, too, consider the example of St. Joseph, who quietly and quickly obeys the Word of the Lord in caring for his Bride, St. Mary, and for her Son, the Christ Child. Such a tremendous task it is, of such great importance! But God provides for the Child and His Mother, and He preserves their lives by the hand of His servant, St. Joseph. He does the same for your neighbor by your hand, as you work and serve according to His Word in the place where God has called you to be.

In a corresponding way, you know where and how the Lord is with you by giving attention to His Word and the ways and means that He has thereby designated. St. Matthew has made this clear and plain in his record of the Infancy Narratives, in the way that he refers to the Christ-Child always with “His Mother.” Over and over again, it is “the young Child and His Mother.” Not only in this Holy Gospel, but already in the Visit of the Magi that precedes it, as we shall hear on the Feast of the Epiphany tomorrow. Such is St. Matthew’s way of indicating and stressing, as Dr. Luther also stressed, that one should not look for God — nor will you ever be able to find the one true God — anywhere else than here in the flesh and blood of Jesus, the incarnate Son of God born of St. Mary.

Which is also to say that you should not look for God — nor will you ever be able to find Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God — except in His external Means of Grace, that is, in the preaching of His Holy Gospel, in His spoken Word of Holy Absolution, in the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism, and in the Holy Communion of His Body and Blood, given and poured out for you to eat and drink with your body in repentant faith and with thanksgiving. For these bodily Means of Grace are where and how the Lord Jesus Christ is present and available for you and for the many. These are the lap of His Holy Mother, wherein and whereby His flesh is given to you.

So, you find and receive the Lord Jesus in and with His Church, and as a servant of God you are called to love and support His Church on earth and His beloved children, His sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters in Christ: Much as St. Joseph was given to care for the Holy Family.

And as for St. Joseph, so also for you, the Word of the Lord directs you in the darkness of night, in the midst of great danger, and on paths of real difficulty. The world hates you, as it hates the One whose Name you bear. And the devil himself seeks your life more viciously than any King Herod. In the face of all that, you have only the Word and promises of God to go by, and there are times when, like St. Joseph, you are afraid of the foes who reign so fiercely in the world. The task set before you is too daunting, and yet, it is too important to fail.

Even so, get up and go! Hear and heed the Word that God the Father speaks to you by His own dear Son. Remember that you and your journey, the outcome of your duties, and your destination are all in the hands of Him who loves you. God has guarded the Child with His Mother, and so does He guard and keep you as a member of His Bride. He has been at work through St. Joseph, and now He is at work in you to will and to do His good pleasure for you and for your neighbors.

The guarantee is in the Body of Christ Jesus, who has been crucified for your transgressions and, yes, who has been raised for your justification. Out of Egypt God has called His Son, in order to bring about this great Salvation for you and for all. And by and with His Word in the waters of your Holy Baptism, He has called even you His beloved and well-pleasing son in Christ Jesus, and He has promised you eternal Life and Salvation in both your body and your soul.

With those precious Words and Promises of God ringing in your ears and going with you from this place, be encouraged by and emulate the good example of St. Joseph in heeding the Word that God the Lord has spoken to you by His Son. Not only in obeying His Commandments, as you are surely called to live the new life in Christ throughout this New Year of His grace. But, above all, in receiving and believing His precious Word of the Gospel, whereby He forgives you all your sins.

So does your God and Father call you out of Egypt and save you by His mighty deliverance, by the humility and meekness of the Cross and Resurrection of His Son. And so does He reveal and give to you that same Son, Jesus Christ, that you should live and abide with Him forever. This promise is for you and for your children, and for your children’s children and their children yet unborn.

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

D. Rick's Album Top 40 from 2024

Although I continue to enjoy listening to music, in recent years I have simply not had the time or inclination to discover, explore, and immerse myself in the latest releases as I have done in the past. It was too much to keep up with, and I gradually became aware that I was rarely able to savor the music I already knew to be enjoyable and pleasing to my tastes and interests. It's not that I pay no attention whatsoever to the new music coming out, but I'm far more selective in what I choose to investigate, and in general I am more "passive" in my music listening habits at this point. Strikingly, I have over the past couple of months begun to listen more to audio books and podcasts than to music when I'm driving, and those who know me at all will realize what a significant shift that is!

All that being said, even with my more passive approach, there were new albums over this past year that not only managed to pique my interest but to capture my attention and endear themselves to me for future listening enjoyment. And so, for what it's worth, I share my top forty favorite albums from 2024 below. A number of these actually snuck up on me and caught me by pleasant surprise. They're listed roughly in order of my preference, but that tends to hold more true for the first part of the list than it does in the case of the latter entries. For those who use Spotify and are interested, you can find these albums collected here.

1. Luke Combs - Fathers & Sons

2. Stephen Wilson Jr. - Son of Dad

3. Aaron Lewis - The Hill

4. Myles Kennedy - The Art of Letting Go

5. The Script - Satellites

6. Uncle Kracker - Coffee & Beer

7. Skillet - Revolution

8. Cody Jinks - Change the Game

9. Black Country Communion - V

10. Will Hoge - Tenderhearted Boys

11. Drew Holcomb & the Neighbors - Strangers No More, Vol. 2

12. Kenny Wayne Shepherd - Dirt On My Diamonds, Vol. 2

13. Brantley Gilbert - Tattoos

14. Firewind - Stand United

15. Scott Stapp - Higher Power

16. Chase Rice - Go Down Singin’

17. HammerFall - Avenge the Fallen

18. Kacey Musgraves - Deeper Well

19. Wade Bowen - Flyin’

20. Sheryl Crow - Evolution

21. Saxon - Hell, Fire and Damnation

22. Mat Kearney - Mat Kearney

23. The Avett Brothers - The Avett Brothers

24. The Secret Sisters - Mind, Man, Medicine

25. American Aquarium - The Fear of Standing Still

26. Accept - Humanoid

27. Kings of Leon - Can We Please Have Fun

28. American Authors - Bon Voyage

29. Brooks & Dunn - Reboot II

30. Amos Lee - Transmissions

31. Lindsey Stirling - Duality

32. George Strait - Cowboys and Dreamers

33. Sister Hazel - Sand, Sea & Crash Derbis

34. Flatland Cavalry - Flatland Forever

35. OneRepublic - Artificial Paradise

36. Avery Anna - Breakup Over Breakfast

37. Kassi Ashton - Made from the Dirt

38. Cody Johnson - Leather Deluxe

39. Linkin Park - From Zero

40. Bon Jovi - Forever

As a bonus, again for those who use Spotify, here is a playlist of my top 100 favorite songs from 2024, many of them (not surprisingly) from the above albums.