The Body of Christ Jesus Is Given for Your Salvation

The Blessed Virgin Mary believed the Word of the Lord, and in holy faith she said “Yes” to His Word.  She submitted herself to His divine and holy Will.  She entrusted her body and life to Him: Not a tithe or token, but 100 percent, a living sacrifice.  A woman does not bear a child with only part of herself, but with all that she is.  Throughout the nine months of pregnancy, it is true that a mother’s work is never done.  And even after birth, there is still much work to be done, a great and ongoing burden of responsibility to feed and clothe, to shelter and protect, to nurture and teach.

But now, what has the Lord spoken to you, and how shall you say “Let it be” to His Word?  What is His Will for your body and life?  In love for Him, how shall you love your neighbor as yourself?

Truly to love is to give yourself, to spend yourself entirely, and to pour yourself out for another.

With that in mind, do not suppose that the gifts you give, whether later this week or any other time, whether purchased or made with your own hands, can actually substitute for the gift of yourself.

But maybe you are already spent to the point of exhaustion, or bent and broken in heart and mind, and you simply can’t even imagine giving anything more of yourself to anyone.  There are lots of lost and wandering people in the world.  Perhaps you feel that way, yourself.  Alone and confused.  Afraid of so many things, including the unknown.  Distant.  At war with everything around you, and with everyone.  Angry or unhappy.  Disappointed, discouraged, and disconnected from others.

Do you have such heavy burdens to bear?  By yourself?  Is it because your neighbor has neglected you?  Or is it because you have turned away from your neighbor and turned inward upon yourself?

The tragic irony of selfishness is that you wind up alone and lonely, precisely because you are so wrapped up in yourself, so concerned with yourself — to the exclusion and neglect of everyone else around you.  Even what you do for others, you do for your own sake and your own benefit.  And the more you strive to get and to keep for yourself, the more isolated and disconnected you become.  In your wealth you remain empty, and even in your feasting you are never satisfied.

But as God the Lord has spoken, it is not good for you to be alone.  You were not created to live unto yourself in lonely isolation, but to live in love with God and with your neighbors.

In particular, you were created to live in the Communion of Saints, in the one Body of the one Lord Jesus Christ, to live in a relationship with fellow saints within the household and family of God.

That is the Life for which the Holy Triune God has created you, and to which He has called you in divine and holy Love.  And that is at the heart of the Word that He speaks to you in great mercy.

So, how shall you say “Yes” to that Word?  How shall you submit yourself to His Will for you?  And how shall you receive and bear the incarnate Son of God in your flesh, in your body and life, for His Name’s sake in holy faith, and for the benefit of your neighbors in holy love?

The best way to have friends is to be a friend.  And the best way to find love is to love others — in words and deeds, in spirit and in truth.  But let there be no strategy of selfishness at work in your friendship and your love; for selfishness, self-centeredness, and self-love are really the opposite of friendship and love.  Rather, entrust your whole body and life to the Lord your God, conform yourself to His Word and to His Will, and so offer yourself as a living sacrifice of faith and love.

That is to say, in loving the Lord your God above all things, in faith before Him, so love and serve and care for your neighbors as you naturally love and serve and care for your own body and life.

Have you heard how quickly St. Mary went to visit St. Elizabeth?  And have you heard how gladly St. Elizabeth welcomed her?  Consider the friendship and love and mutual help they found and received in each other, all the while their bodies were given over to the good work of bearing the children God had entrusted to them and to their stewardship according to His grace and mercy.

The comfort and consolation these women give and receive in each other exemplifies the work of God in all the members of His Church.  As those who fear, love, and trust in Him unite their wills to His, so does He unite His divine work and sacrifice to theirs.  Not as though He depends on them, but as the means by which He graciously accomplishes His purposes for them and for others.

And it is all of one harmonious piece.  Thus, St. Elizabeth welcomes and rejoices in the Lord, her Savior, in welcoming His Mother and rejoicing over her and with her.  And St. Mary receives the proclamation of St. John, pointing to her Son, through the words of St. Elizabeth.  In loving and serving and clinging to each other, they cling to the Lord, and they are loved and served by Him.

The gracious work of God is likewise hidden in the good work He has given you to do.  So you love and serve Him in the members of His Body, in your brothers and sisters within His family.

That begins with your own parents, your husband or wife and your children, if you have them.  So, spend yourself in loving those nearest neighbors at hand, no less so than a mother with her child.

If you are a husband and father, do not be distant from your wife and children, but draw near to them in what you say and do, and so also in how you listen to them and give attention to them.  As you work to provide for them, so also serve and care for them with your presence and your time.

But if you do have a family of your own — whether as a parent, spouse, or child — know that your family points beyond itself to the household and family of God.  Love and serve that family, also, especially those members who have no other family here on earth.  For the Lord gathers all His sons and daughters together into one Body, under one Head, all His sheep under one Shepherd.

And if you do not have a spouse or children, or parents any longer, rejoice all the more in that fellowship of the Body of Christ Jesus.  Understand that your freedom from the joys and burdens of a family is a freedom to spend yourself in service to others, to the Church and to your neighbors, to help those with families in their needs, and to help others without families in their needs, too.

Do not imagine or make the excuse that you have too little to give, or that you are not up to the task at hand.  Within the place He has called you to be, in whatever office He has stationed you, the Lord your God joins His good and gracious work to all of your works of love; and His Word and promises to you are not impotent but powerful.  That is evident in these two women with child — old Elizabeth, who was called barren, and the Blessed Virgin Mary, who did not know a man.

Whatever job the Lord has given you to do, whatever duty and responsibility He lays upon you in this body and life, He supplies all that is needed, and He works His work in you by His grace.

Do not worry about how much will be left for you and your needs, if you spend your time and energy in loving the neighbors God has set before you.  And do not fret about how much your neighbor reciprocates your love, whether a lot or a little or not at all, with or without any thanks.

If you are emptied, the Lord will fill you up with Himself and His good things.  If you are humbled, He will raise you up and exalt you in His presence.  If you are impoverished, He will still feed you with Meat and Drink indeed.  If you perish, you perish; yet, the Lord gives you His eternal Life.

The surety of your resurrection and your Life everlasting with God is the Body of Christ Jesus, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, put to death and buried, but also risen from the dead and seated at the Right Hand of God the Father, your great and merciful High Priest — given for you here, at His Altar, for your Life and your Salvation in Him.

The One who was rich beyond all measure made Himself poor, and the Most High made Himself lowly; the exalted One humbled Himself and became obedient, even unto death on the Cross.  He gives not a tithe or a token, not a part or a portion, but His whole Self, His whole Body and Life, His Flesh and Blood, that you should be enlivened and enriched with all the treasures of God.

He fully united His human will with the Will of His God and Father and submitted Himself to it; and by the voluntary Sacrifice of His Body on the Cross, He has sanctified you for eternal Life.

So it is, likewise, that by the bloody sweat and labor of His Passion He gives birth to the children of God in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism — as He has surely done for Maximus this morning!

Your body and life are sanctified by Christ Jesus, for now and forever, by His Gospel.  Your work and sacrifice are also sanctified by His, and vindicated in His Resurrection from the dead.  Your faithfulness is taken up into His faithfulness and perfected in Him; and where you are unfaithful, His faithfulness avails for you with His forgiveness of sins, to save you from death and hell.

In the midst of your poverty, weakness, and daily failures, His poverty becomes your wealth, His weakness becomes your strength and your song, and His bitter suffering and death for the sins of the world become your glorious victory and great salvation.  This is how Immanuel, the Lord your God, draws near to you, and visits you in mercy, and abides with you in love, now and forever.

If you are spent to the point of exhaustion in loving and serving a spouse, a child, a parent, or a neighbor, whether friend or foe — if you are altogether broke or broken — know that Christ Jesus the Lord is with you to help you and save you.  He has kind regard for your humble state.  He has done great things for you — and He shall do so — for His mercy and His Name rest upon you.

Consider how intimately He came to abide with dear St. Mary, with His own Body of flesh and blood within her womb.  And then see here, how He comes to abide with you, God’s own dear child, giving His own Body and Blood into your body.  His Supper is the remembrance of His mercy.  And shall the One who feeds you with such Good Things and joins Himself to you in love ever leave you or forsake you?  No, He shall not.  All that He has spoken to you, He shall do.

Blessed are you who believe it.  Draw near and receive Him in the belly of His Mother; for blessed is the Fruit of her womb, which has now become the Fruit of His Cross, your Meat and Drink indeed.  Thus abiding in Him, and He in you, return to your home in His perfect Peace and Joy.

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

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.

The Baptism of Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins

St. John the Baptist comes preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  And that Baptism which he preaches and administers calls for more than lip service or an outward show, although words and actions are definitely involved.  Genuine repentance includes a confession of the truth as well as godly behavior, both in accordance with the Word of the Lord.  But repentance begins and continues, far more deeply, with a decisive change of heart and mind.  It is to be turned away from one way of life to another, a full conversion of your whole self from the inside-out.

Repentance is both a death and a resurrection, and this is the very thing that such baptizing with water does with you and then also works in you for the rest of your life.  As for Jerome, so also for you, Baptism calls you and converts you to become altogether different than you have been — in your attitudes and commitments, in your thoughts and feelings, and in your words and actions.

Truly to repent is rightly to flee from the wrath to come in the conviction that the one true God exists, that He is the Author and Creator of all things, including you, and that His Law is a serious matter, indeed, which means what it says and holds you accountable for what you have done and for what you have not done.  Repentance thus begins with the fear of the Lord.

God threatens to punish all who break His Commandments.  Therefore, you should fear His wrath and not disobey Him.  The axe is laid at the root of the trees, and eternal fire awaits for the ungodly who do not live in faith and love.  For to flee from God’s righteous wrath is not to run away and flee from Him — as if you ever could escape from His judgment!  It is, rather, to live righteously by faith in His Word, and all the more so as the Day of His Coming (His Advent) approaches.

He is the Lord, your King, who is drawing near.  And St. John the Baptist is sent to prepare the Royal Highway before Him, which shall be called a highway of holiness.  Thus, by his preaching and his Baptism of repentance, he fills up the valleys and flattens the hills, he straightens up the crooked places and smooths out the rough spots.

Where, then, have you been lacking in your labors, whether out of laziness, arrogance, or despair?  And where have you exalted yourself and puffed yourself up with pride?  Where have you turned to the right or to the left, distracted from your duties, or else bounced around from one passion and pursuit to the next, as though you had no clear direction?  Where have you stumbled and fallen?

Such are the places that St. John confronts in you.  And that is where your Baptism would drown and destroy the old Adam in you and put you to death, in order to make you alive and brand new.  That is where your fruitless tree is given to bear the fruits of repentance.  Not only to claim sorrow and regret for past failures, but from the heart to change your behavior; to set your ears, your mind, and your mouth upon the Word of God; to cease from doing evil, and to do what is good and right.

Do you want to receive the Christ who comes, to follow Him into His Kingdom and live with Him in righteousness and purity forever?  Do you want to be a Christian, a child and heir of God?  Then live with both humility and confidence before Him within your vocation and stations in life.  Fulfill your duties faithfully, and carry out your responsibilities with honesty and integrity.  Not for the sake of appearances, to impress people, but in the fear of the Lord and in love for your neighbor.  That is what the preaching of Baptism calls for, and that is how you flee from the wrath to come.

To that end, the Lord begins to purify the sons of Levi, starting with Zacharias and his priestly son, St. John the Baptist.  These righteous men, to whom the Word of the Lord has come, are raised up in striking contrast to the reigning high priest, Caiaphas, and his father-in-law, Annas, who is still pulling strings and calling the shots behind the scenes.  Annas and his whole extended family are something of a religious mafia, as corrupt in their own day as were Eli and his sons in the days when Samuel was born.  It is not to Annas or Caiaphas, however, but to faithful Zacharias in the Temple, offering the incense of Israel’s prayer, that the Archangel Gabriel appears.  And St. John is the one who is called and sent as the messenger of God to prepare the people for Christ Jesus.

By his preaching and Baptism of repentance, St. John offers up the people as a priestly sacrifice to God and as a righteous offering to the Lord.  He slays them with his words in the waters of the Jordan, and then he pulls them back up out of the water and sets them on the path of righteousness in Christ.  And by this repentance thus worked in them by the washing of the water with the Word, the people offer up themselves, body, soul, and spirit, to the Lord their God.  They become living sacrifices, entrusting themselves entirely to Him, and so living a new life by faith in His Word.

Such repentance is exemplified later in St. Luke’s Holy Gospel, in the tax collector Zaccheus who restores all that he has stolen and then gives half his money to the poor, and in the soldier at the foot of the Cross who confesses that Jesus is the righteous Son of God after witnessing His death.

You are likewise called to live a life that is pleasing to God, that is, according to His Word in the place where He has stationed you — in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of repentance and of wisdom, and in the confidence of His faithfulness, His righteousness and steadfastness.

He is the Lord, He changes not.  From everlasting to everlasting, He is God.  His promises are true, His Covenant is certain.  Though you have wandered far from Him and forsaken His Word, return to Him, for He returns to you.  He draws near for judgment, for justice and righteousness, in order to make all things new and right, in order to restore the people of His choosing as a priestly nation in holiness and righteousness before Him forever and ever.  That is what He comes to do for you.

But, honestly, who can endure His coming?  Who can stand in His judgment when He appears?  Who can survive His Advent?  For even on your best day, no matter how hard you try, there is yet more to be done, and there is still sin in your heart and life.  Outwardly, your words and actions do not fully measure up, but inwardly it is far worse.  You neither fear the Lord your God, nor do you love and trust in Him, not as you ought.  There are still valleys to be filled, hills to be flattened.

The holy and righteous Law of God leaves no one unscathed.  It does not accuse you falsely, nor does it demand from you more than is fair.  And yet, for all your effort, you cannot live up to it, nor can you make amends for all of your wrongdoing.  Will you pay back four times over all that you have taken from your neighbor?  Will you give all of your possessions, or even half of them, to the poor?  And would you thereby atone for all your sins and justify yourself before the Lord?

No, the axe still cuts you down, the fire still consumes you.  The Law is insatiable in its demands and prohibitions, in its condemnations and its punishments, until it is fulfilled in the righteousness of perfect faith and holy love.  But such righteousness and holiness are beyond your grasp.  They are not a work that you can do or achieve for yourself, but a work that only God can accomplish.  You do not perform it, but suffer it.  And only then, after it has killed you, do you begin to live it.

St. John is not a motivational speaker, nor a self-help guru, but a preacher of repentance.  It is true that he baptizes with water, but the Word that he preaches, being God’s Word, is a fire that burns.

Even so, it is also the Gospel that St. John preaches to the people, though he does not fully realize or understand at first what his baptizing with water shall do.  He rightly preaches the Law, but to begin with he does not perceive that Christ Jesus will submit Himself to the righteous judgment of that very Law.  He preaches a Baptism of repentance, and then he is confronted by the Christ who suffers that Baptism and repents for the sins of the world.  That is how and why St. John’s Baptism of repentance is for the forgiveness of sins.  And so it is that, afterwards, he points to Christ Jesus and say: There’s the Lamb of God, the Sacrifice to end all sacrifice for sin, who makes Atonement for the world, who justifies and sanctifies all who believe and are baptized into Him.

Jesus is mightier than John, not in threats and punishments, but in mercy and compassion for poor, miserable sinners.  He is the Lord, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquities and sins.  That is the character of His Heart, the essence of His Being, the perfection of His almighty Power.  That is the sort of Lord He is, the true and only God who is Life and Light and Love.  That is why you are not consumed, even though you deserve nothing but punishment.

It’s not as though the Lord overlooks sin or takes it lightly, but that He is mightier than you — in taking sin and death upon Himself, and suffering their worst, and establishing the righteousness of perfect faith and holy love in His own faithfulness, in His own Body of flesh and blood.

St. John’s preaching and Baptism prepare you for the coming of the Lord, because they make ready the way by which He comes to you.  That is to say, Christ Jesus comes by the way of repentance, which He thereby opens up for you, for Jerome, and for all people, by taking responsibility for the sins of the world, by making Himself accountable for all of them and suffering their consequences.

The Lord Jesus submits Himself to St. John’s Baptism, not to flee, but to bear the wrath to come.  He suffers the axe and the fire by His Cross and Passion.  He bears the Tree of the Cross, and by it He bears the fruits of repentance — which are for you the fruits of righteousness and salvation.

This is the good work that your dear Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished for you, which He has also begun to work in you, as also in Jerome, by His preaching and His Baptism.  By the Fruits of His Cross and in His Resurrection, He brings you daily to repentance and purifies your heart and life by faith.  And just as surely as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, so shall He bring this good work of His to perfection in you, both body and soul, forever.

Not only does He daily and richly forgive you all your sins by the Fruits of His Cross — that is, by the preaching of His Gospel of forgiveness, by His spoken Word of Holy Absolution, by the daily remembrance of your Baptism, and by His Food and Drink of the Holy Communion — but He also bears good fruits in you by the same means of grace, after the same kind as His own Tree.  For the Gospel bears the fruits of faith and love in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, your Savior.

He puts to death all that is sinful, unholy, and unrighteous in your heart, mind, body, and soul, but then He also raises you up to newness of Life in Him.  That is the repentance of His own Cross and Resurrection, now worked in you by His Law and His Gospel.  In this way, and by these means, He removes the chaff from your life, from your thoughts, words, and actions, and He gathers you as finest wheat into His Barn, that is, into His Church and into His Kingdom, now and forever.

He does it by His Word of the Cross, to and from your Baptism, day by day throughout your life.  He crucifies you with that Word, as He puts you to death and buries you with Himself by those waters; so that you die to yourself, to your old attitudes, behaviors, and commitments, and you rise up to live unto righteousness in Him.  You follow Him through the waters into the way of faith and love.  And all throughout the journey, you are blameless before God in this Lord Jesus Christ.

When Joshua led the sons of Israel through the waters of the Jordan River into the Promised Land, he established a memorial of twelve stones, both on the shore and in the midst of the water, in the very place where the sons of Levi had stood with the Ark of the Covenant until all the people had passed through those waters out of the wilderness into that Paradise flowing with milk and honey.

So has this priestly son, St. John the Baptist, stood with Christ Jesus in the midst of the Jordan, to whom Jerome and you have come, as to a living Stone — rejected by men, but choice and precious to God.  And you, also, are a living stone in Him, built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, in order to offer up sacrifices that are pleasing to God through the same Lord Jesus Christ.

From such stones, firmly established in the midst of these waters, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has raised you up as a beloved and well-pleasing child in His Name.  He has dressed you with His own tunic, so that you are now fully clothed and covered in His righteousness and holiness.  And He who has the Food of everlasting Life now feeds you with the Fruits of the Cross, the Body and Blood of the Lamb.  Therefore, in His Flesh, you taste and see the Salvation of God.

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

The Lord Becomes Your Beast of Burden

Although you are a sheep of the Good Shepherd, and you abide by His grace in His green pastures, on this day He would have you see yourself in that donkey, in that colt, the foal of a donkey.

Without any rider, you would seem to be free, no one to ride you, no one to drive you, no one to sit on you.  But still you are not free, for you are tied up and owned by other lords.  Meanwhile, you have been — and you still remain — unused and useless, unclothed, unbridled, and unwanted.  So, you’re not really free at all, and left to yourself you never would be.  Nor are you at peace.

But now Christ Jesus comes and sends His disciples to release you from your bonds, to set you free from your captivity, to clothe and cover you with the garments of His own beloved disciples, and finally to set the Lord Christ Himself upon you, to lay Him upon your heart, soul, mind, and body by His Word — not to be a burden upon you, but that He should thus become your Lord and King.

Truth be told, this one Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, has become your Donkey.  As He is the Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep, so is He the Master who becomes your Beast of Burden and carries all your weight.  He bears all of your guilt, all of your sins, and all of your shame in His Body to the Cross.  And He bears you, also, in Himself, through death into Life.

In His descending, you are raised up.  He goes up to Jerusalem, yes, because He offers Himself to the Father as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the world.  But so does He come down from the Mount of Olives, anointed by the Holy Spirit for the sake of mercy, in order to give you Life.

The Law accuses you, it points its finger at you and condemns you; it would throw the book at you.  The Law even rebukes you for daring to worship this Lord Jesus Christ, as the Pharisees rebuked the disciples for their worship and praise of the One on His way to the Cross.  Nevertheless, He has come to establish His righteousness for you, and to save you by His grace.  He comes, not to hold your sins against you, but to remove the deadweight of your sins, to give you His peace, and to grant you rest in the midst of His Jerusalem.  So, He gladly receives both you and your praise.

Your dear Lord Jesus Christ does not condemn you for your sins.  He does not accuse you.  He does not rebuke you for your shortcomings.  And He does not cast you away from His presence, but instead He calls you to Himself.  He does not reject you when you are brought to Him, but He rather calls you to rejoice in His Salvation, as surely as He clothes you with His Righteousness.

As the Holy Scriptures testify, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them.  And as there is now Peace in heaven — Peace in the heart of God the Father toward you and all sinners — so is there now Peace on earth in the preaching of the  Gospel, in the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the Name of the Lord Jesus.

It is by that preaching that He now calls you to be reconciled to Him, to be at peace with Him.  For He would convert your stony, idolatrous heart into a heart of flesh, that you should rightly fear, love, and trust Him as your true God in the Flesh.  Rest yourself in His Peace, and so be at peace with Him; and in such peace, love and serve your neighbor in his or her body and life.

Such love and peace in your body and life — in your daily words and actions, in your dealings with the sinners and the brothers and sisters and fellow disciples all around you — such love and peace are all that is lacking in your faith as a disciple, as St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians.

To be sure, even in your weakness, even in your frailty and daily falling short, your faith lays hold of Christ Jesus and His Righteousness, in which there is no lack but perfect life and light and love, both now and forever.  All of that is fully yours, as Christ is fully yours, because He gives Himself to you.  He does it all by His grace.  It is His work, not yours, and there is nothing lacking in that.

So, again, be at peace with Him, as He is most certainly at peace with you.  So also do I rejoice and give thanks for your faith and life in Christ Jesus, exemplified by the fact that you are here today.

But in your flesh, in your heart, mind, and spirit, in what you say and what you do, it remains the case that your faith in Christ has not fully turned in love toward God and toward your neighbor.

Repent, therefore.  Do not remain tied up and still attached to your old lords and masters, but live now in the freedom of Christ Jesus, that you may increase and abound in love for one another.  Do not avoid your brothers and sisters, but seek them out in mercy.  Do not wait for them to ask you for help, but look for ways that you may love and serve them, just as Christ has come to help you in your weakness and fear, when you did not know Him nor even how to call upon His Name.

Do not speak ill of your neighbor, whether to his face or behind his back.  And do not do anything to hurt or harm your neighbor, not in his body, not in his family, not in his house, nor in his honor.  Let all your words be gracious, and let all of your dealings with your neighbor be kind and good.

Love freely, in faith, and not as though you were under a whip or goaded by a prod.  Have no fear of punishment.  You shall not die, but live.  Rather, rejoice in the King who comes to you in peace, who reigns over you in love from His Cross, and so also bear His Cross in love for your neighbor.

As Jesus Christ has become your gracious Lord and King, as He has borne all your burdens in His Body, and as He has set you free from sin and death, so now bear Him in your body and life.

You be the colt that carries Him.  Be a Christian.  Let your tongue and mouth be bridled, let your hands and feet be guided, and let your flesh be disciplined by this one Lord Jesus Christ.  Let Him be the Lord who rides you through death into life.  And let your outer garments be stripped away and placed on the road to be trod beneath His feet on the Way of the Cross; so that you may be clothed with a new vesture, with His righteousness and purity and with the holiness of His Love.

Has He not named you with His Name — the Name of the Lord your God — in Holy Baptism?

And has He not signed you, also in your body and your flesh, on your forehead and your heart, with the sign of His holy Cross?

And yet, it is not you, the servant, the donkey, but Him, the Christ, the Lord your God, who first of all bears the burden of the Cross for you, and so looses you from the bondage of sin and death.  If you now bear Christ Jesus and His Cross, it is only because He has already borne you and yours.

So it is that you are born again to a new and living hope.  No longer the foal of a donkey, you are a son of God, a daughter of Jerusalem.  You dwell in safety, and you shall be saved, because Christ the Lord has made Righteousness and Peace for you.  That is your freedom, and that is your faith.

And see here, there is yet another donkey now at hand, who bears your King to you, who comes in the Name of the Lord, having salvation for you.  As He has sent His disciples to make a disciple of you — to forgive you in His Name, to baptize you and catechize you in love, to fill up whatever is lacking in you with His Word and Holy Spirit, and with His grace, mercy, and peace — so does He continue to send His called and ordained servants before His face to prepare this Upper Room of His Church, this House of the Lord, for the true Passover Feast of His Body and His Blood.

To that end, the Lord has need of bread and wine.  For these are the colt that He now rides upon, that by these earthly means He should enter His Jerusalem in mercy, wherein He gives His Body for you to eat, and He pours out His holy and precious Blood for the forgiveness of all your sins.

Here He has need of you, as well.  Not that you should serve Him, as though He needed your help, but that He should serve you with all the authority of His Atoning Sacrifice and with all the power of His indestructible Life.  For He would be your one true King of Righteousness and Peace.  He comes, not to enslave you, but that you should live with Him in His Kingdom, now and forever.

He is a greater and more faithful King than even great King David, a man after God’s own heart.  And He is a better and far wiser Son than even Solomon, the king of peace.  For Christ Jesus is Himself your Righteousness and Holiness.  He is Himself your Safety, Peace, and Sabbath Rest.  And in His Body, crucified and risen from the dead, you behold the wide-open heart of God.

That is why we shout aloud and cry out with great joy.  And that is why we sing of Peace on earth as it is in heaven.  For “blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”  From the House of the Lord we bless His Holy Name and worship Him with thanks and praise.  Hosanna in the highest!

And happy are you, who know this festal shout on earth, right here and now — and who shall know it hereafter in the Resurrection, in that high and holy City of God, forever and forevermore.

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

Let Us Magnify the Lord in His House

You know the story of King David, the shepherd boy who was chosen and called by the Lord to shepherd His people, Israel, as King.  No doubt you recall his ups and downs — how David killed a man and stole his wife, Bathsheba, after committing adultery with her; and how his own son, Absalom, rebelled against him and then was killed in the course of his rebellion — but also his great courage in facing down and killing the giant, Goliath, with nothing but a slingshot and his fear, love, and trust in God; and his overall success as King, beloved of the Lord and the people.

It was after many years of warfare and conquest, when the Kingdom of Israel was prosperous, large, and secure — and David was comfortably seated upon his throne in a brand new palace — that he developed a pious and well-intentioned plan: He would magnify the Lord by building Him a house, a magnificent temple surpassing the royal palace.  So he intended to give thanks to God.

It sure sounded like a great idea, even to the Prophet Nathan.  And surely David’s intentions were good (notwithstanding what they say about the road of good intentions).  But he was mistaken in supposing that the humble things of this body and life are beneath the purposes of the Lord God; and he was wrong to be embarrassed that the Ark of God was dwelling in a tent (the Tabernacle).

It was the Lord God Himself who had chosen to cause His Name and His Old Testament Means of Grace to dwell among the people in the Tabernacle, that He should thereby deal with them in mercy and preserve them with His forgiveness of sins.  And it was likewise the Lord God Himself who had taken David from the humility of herding sheep to be the mighty shepherd-king of Israel.  So it was not for David to do any favors for God or to improve upon the purposes of the Lord.

The problem is that your own fallen flesh is prone to think and act in the same way that David was at that point, as though you could actually help God out and deal with Him according to your own ideas and with your own efforts, rather than relying exclusively on His Word and on His Gifts.

By the same token, it has always been rather sobering and instructive to me, as a pastor, to consider the way things went in this case with the Prophet Nathan.  When King David came to him with his idea for a temple, Nathan immediately replied, “Go right ahead; the Lord is with you.”  But the Lord actually had a very different message for David, with which He sent Nathan back to the King.

The Prophet had spoken out of turn, apart from the Word of the Lord; and so he got it wrong.  And so I am reminded how easy it is to fall into the same kind of error.  When people are actually eager and excited about some new project or program, when they want to contribute and get involved in some new effort or activity, the instinctive gut reaction is to encourage them to go for it.  It’s so easy, then, to speak out of turn, without considering the Word of the Lord, when you’re faced with enthusiastic volunteers offering to do something (even if it doesn’t really fit the situation).

The truth is that Nathan should have waited, first of all, to hear what the Lord would say.  And so must a pastor take the time to consider every potential activity of the Church in the light of the Lord’s clear and certain Word.  Likewise, I dare not enter this pulpit or attempt a Bible class, unless I can say with confidence concerning my preaching and teaching, “Thus says the Lord.”

But, again, our flesh is prone to go with the flow in thinking like David instead of the Lord.

Consider how easily and often you cringe at the “foolishness” of the Cross, if not as an historical event, then as the way by which the Lord God reveals and gives Himself to you now.  As St. Paul has written, the Cross is a scandal and a stumbling block to the world and to your own sinful heart, mind, body, and life.  Despite the testimony of the Holy Scriptures, the Cross and Passion of Christ Jesus do not compute with your feelings about “God” and what you think He should be like.

And by the same token, the ordinary Word of the Gospel and the humble Sacraments of the same Lord Jesus Christ do not square with the way you hope and expect that God will deal with you.  Are you not more readily pleased and impressed by the glories, successes, and monuments of the world than content and satisfied with the Means of Grace that God Himself has chosen and given  to you within the fellowship of His Church?  Does the Body of Christ not seem like a mere tent, as He tabernacles with you in His Flesh and Blood, seemingly unworthy of the God you desire?

Those who weary of the Sacrament of the Altar (and hearing about it) are of the same mind as King David when he presumed that he would build a temple for the Lord, something better than a tent. 

But, no, the Lord does not need your help or your advice.  Your ways are not better than His ways, and your thoughts are not as high (much less higher) than His thoughts.  On the contrary, you need Him and depend on Him for everything — every breath, every moment, every penny, every bite.  And with all of that, what you need from the Lord above all else is to be instructed by His Word and Holy Spirit, in order to learn His way of thinking and to forget the expectations of the world.

If the Lord your God chooses to dwell in a tent — if He chooses in love to hand Himself over to the Cross as the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the world — and if chooses to deal with you, to reveal and give Himself to you, in the humble simplicity of words and water, bread and wine — as He has done — then you’ll not improve upon His ways and means, but you must be humbled and taught the true wisdom of His apparent “foolishness.”  Instead of trying to liven up the Lord, you must be crucified and put to death to yourself by way of contrition and repentance.

It is fundamental that you must recognize your need for the Lord your God, and that you go to Him for all that He would do and say and give — by His own ways and means — instead of presuming to help Him.  In respect to your relationship with the Lord, “‘Tis far better to receive than to give.”

Which is not at all to say that you should simply sit around doing nothing and waiting for God and others to serve and care for you.  St. Paul shuts that way of thinking down elsewhere in his letters.  To begin with, you have your own particular calling and station from the Lord, just as David was called and anointed by God to be King over Israel.  So do you have your duties and responsibilities in this body and life on earth, in relation to the neighbors whom the Lord has set alongside of you.

What is more, it is quite right and appropriate, with respect to the Lord, that we should beautify and care for His House of Prayer and conduct ourselves in His presence with dignity and reverence befitting His Holy Name and His grace toward us.  But the key here is that His Name and His grace are His good gifts to His Church, which you receive and use and enjoy according to His Word.

Whatever you may do or give in support of His Church and Ministry of the Gospel is rightly a confession of His Word to you and a sacrifice of thanksgiving for all His gifts and benefits to you.  Likewise, all that you do and say and give in love for your family, friends, and all your neighbors (whether at Christmas or whenever) is a reflection and extension of the Lord’s divine love for you.  Everything begins and continues with the good and gracious Word and works of God, the Lord.

As the Prophet Nathan also learned after his premature blessing of King David’s plan, you are to live your life and worship the Lord in strict accordance with His Word, no matter how foolish or nonsensical it may seem to the world and your own flesh.  In sticking to His Word and clinging to His promises, you have done your part, even as the outcome and all things remain in His care.

That is the “obedience of faith,” as St. Paul has described in the Epistle.  For faith hears, receives, and believes the “Mystery” of the Gospel in the preaching of Christ Jesus, even though it remains a mysterious “secret” to the world.  As God alone is wise, so faith lives according to His Word.

You have heard an example of this “obedient faith,” a true Christian example of the proper way to “magnify the Lord,” in the response of the Virgin Mary to the Annunciation of Gabriel.  And here you find that King David’s dear descendent has been taught by the Word and Spirit of God.

The message the Lord delivers to St. Mary by the Archangel Gabriel fulfills the Word He spoke to David by the Prophet Nathan.  For here and now He is establishing the House of David in the Person of the Son of God, in His own Body of flesh and blood taken from the body of St. Mary.  His Name shall be “Jesus,” because He is the Lord, Yahweh, who comes to save His people from their sins.  As true God and true Man, He lives and reigns forever in His Kingdom without end.

It is true, of course, that David’s more immediate son and royal successor, King Solomon, did build a Temple for Yahweh (following David’s death).  But as magnificent as Solomon’s Temple was, it was a sign pointing forward to the true “House” of great David’s greater Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords, your dear Savior, Jesus Christ, who is Himself the House and Temple of God.

And St. Mary, a distant descendant of David, magnified the Lord in response to His Word, not by offering to do or build anything for Him, but simply by trusting His Word, despite the apparent nonsense of a virgin birth, and by receiving the Son of God into her womb in humility and faith.

In this Blessed Virgin Mary we have another example of God’s choice and preference to dwell in a simple “tent,” as it were, instead of a royal palace.  For she is no queen or princess of the world, but a meek and lowly young woman, little known or regarded by anyone other than the Lord.

That the almighty and eternal Son of the living God, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, should thus become for us the tiniest of little human beings, an Embryo conceived within His Mother’s womb, then living and growing through all the stages of human life and development — that is an event of cosmic proportions and divine compassion beyond the comprehension of our finite human minds.  I daresay that none of us will ever grasp the magnitude of that divine Mystery; it is too much for us.  In the humility of faith we simply bow before the Lord in His own Flesh and Blood.

For it is in His Body of human flesh and blood (like your own) that His everlasting Kingdom is established, not only in heaven, but already here and now in the midst of this fallen, sinful world, full of sickness, sorrow, sin, and death.  Conceived and born of St. Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, put to death and buried, but now risen and ascended in His Body to the right hand of His Father — living and reigning in love to all eternity as the incarnate Son, the Lord’s Anointed, the King of all Creation — He establishes, nurtures and sustains, preserves and prospers His Church on earth, His Body and Bride, by His Word and Holy Spirit and by and with His Flesh and Blood, given and poured out for the forgiveness of sins, unto Life and Salvation with God in body and soul.  So the House of God in the Body of Christ Jesus is to be found wherever His Word is taught in its truth and purity and His Holy Sacraments are administered in accordance with His Gospel.

And so it is that this earthly building we are in — built by sinful human beings out of perishable materials like bricks and wood — is rightly called and truly is the House of God, because Christ Jesus is actively present and at work in this place with His Word and Spirit, Flesh and Blood.

With St. Mary, we magnify our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, not by erecting monuments to Him, as David desired to do, but rather by honoring Him as our Host and receiving His hospitality as guests in His House, hearing and trusting His Word and relying on His good and gracious Gifts.

So do you magnify the Lord by praying and confessing that He will speedily help and deliver you and His whole Church by His grace and mercy.  You glorify His Name by confessing your sins and weaknesses, yet seeking His forgiveness, life, and salvation with confident trust in His Gospel.

That is chiefly what it means to be a Christian and a child of God — to depend on Him, as your Father in Christ Jesus, for all things — to receive all that He gives for this body and life and for the Life everlasting in faith and with thanksgiving — and so to love one another as He loves you.

God grant His grace and Spirit to you and to each and all of us, therefore, that we might pray and confess with St. Mary: “Thy Will be done,” O Lord! “Let it be to us according to Thy Word.”

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

To Be Prepared for the Coming of the Lord

Who is this John?  That is the question of the day.  And though it was asked antagonistically by those who came from the Pharisees, it is nevertheless a worthwhile question for us to consider.

To clarify, first of all, the John here in question is not St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, who has recorded for us this Holy Gospel, but St. John “the Baptist,” the Forerunner of the Lord.  And that is already to answer the question: He is the one who goes before the Lord to prepare His way.

That is the answer of the Holy Scriptures, both here and elsewhere.  And it points entirely away from St. John to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

From St. John the Baptist, concerning himself, we hear almost nothing at all, except what he is not.  To begin with, He is most emphatically not the Christ or Messiah; he is not the Lord’s Anointed.

And St. John is not Elijah.  Which might seem obvious up front.  The thing is, though, that Elijah had not died, but he was taken directly into heaven by the Lord; and the Prophet Malachi later declared that God would send “Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.”  Not only that, but elsewhere the Lord Jesus indicates that St. John the Baptist is the Elijah who was to come.  So, which is it?  Is he Elijah or not?  The key is to distinguish between St. John according to his own person and St. John according to his office as the Forerunner of the Lord — as the last and greatest of the Prophets, whom Jesus identifies as “more than a Prophet.”

Yet, St. John is not that Prophet.  He is not that Prophet “like unto Moses,” whom the Lord would raise up from among the sons of Israel.  Back at Mt. Sinai in the Exodus, when the people were so terrified by the presence of the Lord that they begged Him (through Moses) not to speak with them directly, lest they die, He promised to raise up “that Prophet,” who would be like Moses, and who would speak the Word of God.  That Prophet is Christ Jesus, your Lord and Savior, the incarnate Son of God, the Word-made-Flesh.  So, to be sure, St. John the Baptist is not “that Prophet.”

And one more thing that he is not.  He is not worthy to unloose the sandal strap of the One who is coming, who is standing among the people yet unknown.  Though He comes after John, yet, He was before John, because He was in the beginning with God.  He is the One it’s all about.

Whereas St. John the Baptist prefers to say nothing about himself (but only what he is not), he is all the while intent on proclaiming, over and over again, who and what the Lord Jesus is: For Jesus is the Christ, the Lord’s Anointed, the Savior-King from the House and Lineage of David who shall reign forever and ever, whose Kingdom has no end.  He is the Lord who comes to redeem His people, to free them from captivity to sin, death, and hell.  He is the Light of the world, and Life and Salvation.  He is the Lamb of God, who bears the sins of the world in His Body to the Cross.

That’s about all you’ll get out of St. John: Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus!  That’s really all he wants to talk about.  He’s not wrapped up in himself, and he’s not interested in talking about himself.  He isn’t sent to exalt himself, but to point to Christ Jesus and to prepare the people for His coming.

St. John’s whole identity and purpose, even from his mother’s womb, are bound up with this one thing — this single-minded purpose — that he must prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.  And so it is that, as the Lord Jesus comes and makes His appearance among the people, St. John’s life and ministry correspondingly come to an end.  As Jesus must increase, St. John must decrease.

So, let us return to that distinction between St. John’s person and his office as a messenger of the Lord, as a preacher and baptizer of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

It is, again, by virtue of his office that St. John the Baptist is the Elijah who was to come.  And that office — that Voice in the wilderness preparing the way of the Lord — continues wherever the Lord is to come.  So must that “official Voice” prepare you, also, for the coming of the Lord.

As great as St. John’s person and personal significance are, they are subordinate to his office and ministry, and they are all the more subordinate to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Likewise, to this day, the ministers of Christ Jesus — the pastors of His Church — must be entirely concerned, not with themselves, but with their office as preachers of His Word, as liturgists of His Gospel.  In the footsteps of St. John the Baptist, Christian pastors are all about the Christ, the Lord’s Anointed, who has come in the Flesh, who has conquered sin, death, the devil, and hell by His Cross, who is risen from the dead, and who is coming to judge the world in righteousness.

As also in the case of St. John the Baptist, the ministers of Christ Jesus prepare the people for His coming especially by the preaching and Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  Thus are you turned away from your sins, from your idolatry and unbelief, to fear, love, and trust in the Lord your God, to receive Him as He comes to you in His Word and Flesh, and to rely on Him.

To begin with, the preaching of repentance first of all exposes your sins and your sinfulness.  It strips you of all pretense and lays you bare before the Lord Almighty, that you might recognize how desperate are your circumstances and how futile are all of your own reason and strength.  The Word of the Lord thereby stabs you through the heart, buries you, and condemns you in your sins.

But as you are cut to the quick and convicted by this divine Word of the Law, by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit, the messenger of the Lord then also preaches the divine Word of the Gospel, the forgiveness of all your sins.  Thus are you raised from death to life, from out of hell into heaven.  Indeed, you are given a brand new life, both body and soul, in Christ Jesus; because the Gospel is not just facts and information, but the living and life-giving Word of God in Christ.  The preaching of His Gospel delivers the goods.  It actually does something for you, and it gives you everything you need.  It forgives your sins, it saves you, and it gives you life in Christ Jesus.

This is what your repentance is — being-put-to-death by the Law and being-raised-to-new-life by the Gospel.  None of this is anything that you are called upon to do for yourself, nor could you do it for yourself.  It is the preaching of the Word of God that works repentance in your heart, mind, body, and soul, unto faith and life in Christ Jesus, unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.

Along with this preaching of the Law and the Gospel, there is also the Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, which is also the work of God unto life and salvation.  It is especially by way of Baptism that St. John prepares the way of the Lord; not only as it prepares the people for the coming of the Lord, but as it is the Way by which He comes.  For the holy and righteous Son of God submits Himself to St. John and to his Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, even though our dear Lord Jesus had no sins of His own.  He thereby takes upon Himself the sins of the world and commits Himself to sacrificial death upon the Cross to atone for them all.

The Lord Jesus was thus baptized into His own death, just as you have been crucified, put to death, and buried with Him by your Baptism in His Name.  Only, everything is reversed for you and Him.  He goes into the water holy and sinless, and He comes out saturated with your sins, whereas you go into the water utterly sinful and unclean, and you come out cleansed and covered with His perfect righteousness.  From the waters of the Jordan He bears your sins in His Body to the Cross, where He suffers the death and damnation you deserve.  But you die with Him in your Baptism, so that you also rise with Him to everlasting Life with God in both body and soul.

So, then, in the waters of Holy Baptism there is again the dying and the rising which constitute your repentance.  You die to your sins, to the world, and to yourself, and you rise and live before God in the righteousness and peace of Christ.  Thus are you turned from sin and death to real Life.

This is what Christ Jesus is all about.  So this is also what St. John is all about, as He points to Jesus and says, “There He is, the Lamb of God.  He’s the One who matters.  Look to Him.”

Follow St. John’s voice and finger, therefore, always back to Jesus.  That’s how Dr. Luther liked to put it.  Listen to St. John’s voice as he proclaims the Lamb of God who takes away all your sins; and look to where St. John’s finger points — to the same Lord Jesus, your Savior and Redeemer.

Think of what that means, for Him to be your Redeemer, and cling to that.  Consider that He who is true God, begotten of His Father from eternity, is also true Man, born of the Virgin Mary; that He is your Lord, who has redeemed you, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won you from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy and precious blood, with His innocent suffering and death — that you might live with Him in His Kingdom, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity.

That is what St. John is getting at, even as he quotes from the Prophet Isaiah concerning himself.  For if he is the Voice of one crying in the wilderness, then the One who comes after him must be the Lord, who comes to redeem His people from sin and death and to comfort them with Peace.

This redemption of the Lord Jesus is implicitly expressed in St. John’s familiar comment, that he is not worthy to unloose the sandal strap of the coming One.  Commentators will typically say that St. John is simply being humble, expressing that he is not even worthy to be the slave or servant of the Lord.  That may be true enough, as none of us are worthy of ourselves; although St. John the Baptist surely is a servant of the Lord, even the last and greatest of the Prophets of the Lord.

But there is more to it than simple humility.  For the Jews, according to the Law of Moses, a man might be called upon to redeem his kinsman’s wife, or property, or honor.  For example, if a man’s brother were killed and his widow was left without children, the man was expected to marry his brother’s widow and to have children by her, in order to preserve his brother’s name and family.  If there were no brother, than a cousin or another close kinsman would be expected to assume this duty and responsibility.  But if the kinsman refused to do so, the widow would come to him in the presence of the elders, and she would unloose his shoe from his foot, so that he would henceforth be known as “the one whose shoe has been loosed.”

Along those same lines, in the Old Testament story of Ruth, when Boaz desired to marry her, it was necessary that her deceased husband’s closest kinsman first relinquish his responsibility toward her.  And that kinsman did so by unloosing and removing his own shoe and giving it to Boaz in the presence of the elders of Israel.  In doing so he also said, “I cannot redeem this inheritance for myself, lest I mar my own inheritance.  Redeem my right for yourself, for I cannot redeem it.”  The text goes on to say that this was the custom in Israel.

This seems to be most likely what St. John the Baptist has in mind when he states that he is not worthy to unloose the sandal of the coming Lord Jesus Christ.  For although he and Jesus were kinsmen or relatives according to the flesh, St. John was neither worthy nor able to “redeem” the Lord Jesus; nor could he possibly redeem or accomplish what was laid upon Christ Jesus for the salvation of His people.  St. John could by no means redeem the inheritance of the Lord.

Indeed, no one else could do it.  Not even close.  No creature in heaven or on earth could redeem you or save you, but only the Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God.  And He has done so!

No one could unloose His sandal, nor did He remove or relinquish His sandal from His foot, but He has assumed the responsibility for you and for all people, for all the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, who were His own creatures.  Not for His own benefit, but entirely in love, with divine compassion, grace, and mercy, for the rescue and salvation of all of us poor sinners.

Thus has He taken you to be His own.  He has redeemed you with His own holy and precious Blood, with which He also quenches your deepest thirst and meets your deepest need here at His Altar in the Holy Communion.  No less so has He cleansed you by the washing of the water with His Word and adorned you with His beautiful righteousness as His own beloved Bride forever.

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

By the Preaching of the Voice of God

This is where and how the Gospel begins — by and with the preaching of the Voice of God.  And so does it also continue.  This is how the Lord comes to you, to comfort you and give you life.  And this is how you are prepared for His coming — by this Voice that preaches to you in His Name.

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

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

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

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

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

Whatever it is that your heart clings to with such devotion, that is your god.  Whatever or whoever it is that your heart fears, loves, and trusts more than anything else, that is your god.  That is what rules you.  That is what determines your thoughts, words, and deeds.  So, how is it with your heart?

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

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

So do consider how you will meet Him.  Where will your heart be when He appears in power and great glory?  Will you meet Him face to face in faith, in boldness and confidence, with great joy at His coming?  Or with your back turned away from Him in fear, running away, trying to hide?  Pleading for the mountains to cover you, looking for some cave, some hole in the ground, seeking to go down into the depths of Sheol or to scale the heights of heaven, in a vain effort to escape?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Return to the significance of your Baptism, not just once, not only “once in a while,” but daily and throughout your life, unto the Resurrection of the body and the Life everlasting of body and soul in the neverending Day of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Be crucified, put to death, and buried with Him by contrition and repentance.  And then be raised to newness of life in and with Him, both now and forever, by faith in His forgiveness of your sins.  For that is what He has for you.  That is what His Voice speaks to you.  That is His comfort for your broken heart, your true peace and rest in Him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Do not take it lightly, and do not take the preaching of His Voice for granted.  And do not let go the significance, the strength, and the salvation of this Voice of the Gospel, this Word of Christ Jesus, this speaking of the Word-made-Flesh into your ears, into your heart, mind, body, and soul.

The out-loud proclamation of the Gospel matters.  The Word of the Lord is meant to be preached and heard, for faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.  It is such a Voice that God sends to prepare the Way of the Lord.  That is the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God.  For St. Mark, in particular, that is where it all begins — with this Voice of the Lord in the wilderness, preaching a Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

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

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

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

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

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

It is His Word that does everything for you.  That is ever and always the case.  So have the waters of your Baptism, by His Word, cleansed your conscience and given you peace in His presence through the forgiveness of all your sins.  His Word is Spirit and Truth, and it will not fail you.

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

It is by this Voice of the Gospel, by this Word of forgiveness, that the Holy Spirit has opened the Way of Christ into your heart.  And so has He also opened the Way of Christ before you in love, that you should enter with Him into the New Creation, wherein you abide in His Righteousness, Innocence, and Blessedness, even now by faith, and henceforth in the Resurrection of your body to the Life everlasting of your body and soul, your heart, mind, and spirit, with God the Father.

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

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

To Live and Work in the Righteousness of Faith

Where other sons of David have failed to follow in their father’s footsteps — and even great David himself was not always faithful, as the Holy Scriptures make plain — here now is a son of David who shows himself to be a man after his father’s heart.  In fact, the Scriptures present St. Joseph, the son of David, as flawless in his obedience of faith.  He is righteous by God’s grace, and he is faithful in his righteousness.  He governs himself and lives by God’s Word, and when God the Lord speaks to him, St. Joseph acts immediately to do as the Lord has spoken.

Even so, the birth of Jesus Christ and His Holy Gospel do not begin with St. Joseph and his faithful obedience, but with the Word and Spirit of God.  It is God’s gracious speaking that precedes and brings about St. Joseph’s faithful hearing, from which his righteousness proceeds.  And it is God’s speaking of His Word — His speaking to us by His Son — that not only marks but makes the beginning of all things, and so also accomplishes the fulfillment of all things in Christ Jesus.

Before there ever was King David, the Gospel that begins to make its appearance in the birth of Jesus Christ was promised through the holy Prophets in the Scriptures.  This same Son of God, who has now become flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood by His conception and birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is Himself the Word of God by whom, through whom, and for whom all things are made.  And when our first parents, Adam & Eve, fell into sin by their disobedience of His Word, it was this very Son of God — St. Mary’s Son, the Seed of the Woman — whom God promised and pledged and for centuries prepared to give in the fullness of time.

The Lord God takes every initiative and acts in love for you and all.  He does not ask for your help, nor does He need your help; nor does He simply offer to help you.  As He created you in love out of nothing, so it is by grace alone that He moves to save you from your sins, from death, and from the power of the devil.  It is His work, His labor of love, and His good gift from start to finish.

What He does ask of you — His commandments of faith and love — are not for His benefit, but for your benefit and for your neighbor’s benefit.  For He would have you learn to live as He lives in the flesh.  Not that you must “earn your keep,” but that you would receive by faith and live in love the divine Life that is yours by the grace of God in the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus.

In the divine, eternal Love of God the Father for His Son, and by the Love of God the Son for His Father in the Holy Spirit, the Lord freely chooses to give you Himself and His Life and Salvation.  And that you might know Him and receive Him in His grace and mercy toward you, He gives to you a Sign; which does not simply point to His Salvation, but the Sign is your Savior, Immanuel, “God with us,” deep in the flesh.  The Lord Himself draws near and is with you to the utter depths of Sheol; and so does He remain with you in the flesh unto the heights of heaven — in the waters of Holy Baptism, in the Word of Holy Absolution, and in the Sacrament of the Holy Communion.

The thing about His Signs, though, is that they are recognized only by faith, and not by sight.  And so, for now at least, you know them solely by the hearing of His Word — and that is how it will continue until you shall finally see them fulfilled in the Resurrection of all flesh.

So, then, wait upon the Lord in the hope of His Resurrection, according to His Word and promise.  Wait in the peace of His Holy Gospel.  Watch unto prayer, as He has taught you to pray and has promised to hear you.  And Work in those labors of love to which He has called you in this life.

Do not lose heart when your place in life is hard to bear, when your job is difficult and long, when your work seems pointless and under-appreciated, and when all your labors appear to be in vain.

Do not lose heart or give up hope, although you are tested and tried and frankly tired of waiting.

Do not grow weary of doing good, even if you feel like it doesn’t really matter what you do or don’t do, or whether you do anything at all.  In truth, your works of love do mean a great deal; they are significant in the same mysterious and hidden way as all the Signs of Christ are hidden under His Cross — because they are His good works of love in you, and they fly in the face of sin, death, the devil, and hell.  So it is that your obedience of faith and your persistent labors of love are the fruits of Christ’s Cross and genuine Signs of His Resurrection from the dead.

True enough, it is a perilous path that you are called to follow in faith and love, and you will not be left to proceed unhindered.  You walk in danger all the way, as St. Joseph did when he took the pregnant Virgin Mary to be his lawfully-wedded wife.  Whereas the glory of the Resurrection is hidden from your eyes, what you do see and feel and experience tugs persistently on your heart and mind, tempting you away from the Word of the Cross to that which has the appearance of wisdom and glory and power and might, but which the Lord has forbidden as deadly and damnable.

Adam & Eve fell for it when they turned away from all the gracious means of life that God had so generously given to them, and they took hold of the one thing He had warned them against.  It was, after all, a delight to the eyes and desirable to make them wise.  King Ahaz, too, a son of David according to the flesh but not by faith, refused and rejected the Word of the Lord and sought instead to find refuge and strength in the enemies of God’s people.

It’s easy to recognize their gross errors now, in retrospect, with your 20/20 hindsight.  But you pursue the same false trail and fall into the same deadly trap when you neither hear nor heed the Word of God but insist upon your own wisdom, reason, inclinations, feelings, and experience; when you neglect what God has given, and you attempt to take what He has not given; when you demand your own preferences, and when you chase after the lusts of your heart, mind, and flesh.

In order that you would not go down that deadly path and become lost, the Lord in His mercy sends the ministers of His Word, like the Prophets and Apostles before them, to preach His Law and His Gospel to you.  As always, He takes the initiative in coming to you and acting for you.

In order to warn you against the way of death, He comes with the fiery judgment of His Law, which exposes and condemns your sin.  In this, He disciplines you in love, as a good father will discipline his children — not out of anger or frustration, but out of care and concern for your life.

Do not despair of His help, nor suppose that you must earn His favor by your good behavior.  But live by the righteousness of faith in His Word, and do as He has commanded, because it is meet and right so to do.  Proceed in the confidence that He loves you, that He desires to save you, and that He has in fact redeemed you from all your sins and reconciled you to Himself by His grace.

So does He send His preachers to you, not only with the frightening thunder of His Law, but with His sweet and precious Gospel of forgiveness.  You receive this grace and ministry of the Gospel through Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, who by His Cross has descended into Sheol as your dread Champion, but who has also risen from the dead and ascended to the right hand of the Father in heaven for you.  The preaching of the Law and the Gospel is really the preaching of His Cross and Resurrection, in order that you should pass through death with Him into the Life everlasting.

The preaching of His Cross and Resurrection is the preaching of repentance, unto faith in His forgiveness of all your sins.  For what is repentance but the dying and rising of Christ worked in you by His Word and Spirit?  It is what He has worked in you by your Holy Baptism in His Name, and what He continues to accomplish in you by the ongoing catechesis of His Word of the Cross.

Now, you should know that even the Prophets and Apostles were wearied by the sinful response that often met their faithful preaching.  Deaf ears and hard hearts seem impervious to the Word.  And it is no different now than it was for any of them, so a pastor can easily become discouraged by the seeming hopelessness of preaching.  So many people don’t even bother to listen at all, and those who do hear the preaching may still act as though it made no difference whatsoever.  The pastor is tempted to suppose that the success or failure of the preaching rests upon his shoulders.  And yet, he is not called to achieve results, but simply to preach and confess the Word of Christ.

Much the same is true for you, as well, within your own vocation and stations in life.  If you are a husband and father, love your wife and children and live to provide and care for them, as the Lord has called you to do.  And if you are a wife and mother, love and serve your family in the confidence of Christ, the Lord, trusting that He will guard and keep you by His Word and Spirit.  Whatever your job may be, live and work conscientiously as a faithful servant of the living God.

In all of your duties and responsibilities, be encouraged by the beautiful example of St. Joseph, and by the mercies and faithfulness of God toward that strong but quiet man of faith.  In each case that God has chosen to record for us in the Holy Scriptures, St. Joseph receives the Word of the Lord without question or complaint, and he immediately gets up to do exactly what the Lord has given him to do.  He takes dear St. Mary to be his wife, though she is already pregnant with a Child not his own.  He loves her and cares for her because he knows and trusts the love of God for him, on the basis of nothing more nor less than God’s Word and promise concerning her Son, Immanuel.

For his obedience, St. Joseph’s life is challenging and difficult, probably embarrassing in ways we can only imagine, and frustrating at any number of steps along the way.  He allows the outward shame of Mary’s pregnancy to rest upon himself, and he shelters and protects her from danger, taking her to Egypt, for example, and keeping her there when Herod tries to kill the Christ Child.

All St. Joseph could see with his eyes were the needs of his family and the hurts and hardships of their life together under the Cross.  Not so different from what you see and find in your callings.  But not only did the Lord provide for St. Mary and the Baby Jesus through this sturdy carpenter, a faithful son of David, indeed; He also obtained salvation for St. Joseph, for you and everyone.

Who would tell St. Joseph, now, that his work was meaningless, that his labors were in vain, and that the crosses in his life on earth were not worth the pain and trouble they brought upon him?

And it is no different for you here and now!  Whatever your place in life, whatever your office and occupation, you also are given to care for the Mother of God and for the Christ Child, that is, to care for His Church and for your neighbors.  Do not doubt that is true.  You may not even live to see the difference God makes in the lives of His people through your faithful service, but, as for the preachers of Christ, so also for you, it is not for you to achieve or accomplish but only to love your neighbors by doing what the Lord has called you to do.  He will take care of everything, as He will surely take care of you, providing for all your needs of body and soul, for now and forever.

The proof of this promise is the Body of Christ Jesus, conceived and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the Word and Spirit of God.  With His own flesh and blood, crucified and risen from the dead for your Salvation, He gives to you the same Sign that He gave to the House of David.  For He is the incarnate Son, Immanuel, who is God with us.  He is with you and gives Himself to you.

Why does He do it?  Because He is Jesus, which being translated means, “Yahweh Saves.”  He comes to save His people from their sins.  That is why He is here with you.  That is what He does.

He has defeated all your enemies, and He has cast them out.  He has brought peace to the Land, and He grants Sabbath rest to all His people, even to you and yours in this poor life of labor.  All that you fear has been removed by His Cross and Resurrection from the dead.  Sin is forgiven and death is defeated.  For Christ is risen from the dead, and in Him all of creation is made brand new.

You cannot see it now.  Your eyes will deceive you and play tricks on you, as will your sinful heart and mind, your fickle feelings and fluttering emotions.  But even when you see and feel death, behold the Cross of Christ, and by the hearing of His Word let faith discern His Resurrection.

Hear His Word to you now, and taste the Signs that He thereby gives to you and pours out for you, His holy Body and His precious Blood.  If He has eaten curds and honey in the promised Land, so do you eat and drink a better Milk and Honey in His Kingdom, even now in His Church on earth.

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