Sinner and Saint

Strength in Weakness

Advent 4, 2014

Luke 1:26-38

“Strength in Weakness”

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

                What is it you picture in your mind when you think of an angel? For many people it is cute little naked baby-like creature with wings. For others it is a soft glowing person. For the most part people think of angels as being gentle, inviting, and warm. Truly we have been influenced by TV shows such as “Touched by an angel” and movies like “It’s a Wonderful Life” where Clarence tells us that every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings. Satan himself is an angel; a fallen angel defeated by Michael the Archangel before being banished from heaven. Throughout Scripture we read of the reactions that people had when they saw angels….that reaction was fear. People feared angels because angels are the army of God…the Heavenly Host… warriors and soldiers. Angels meant serious business.

          At just the right time God chose to send an angel to deliver an important message. “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.” (Luke 1:26-27) This would be no ordinary message and it would be delivered by no ordinary angel. God sent Gabriel the Archangel (one of only three named angels in Scripture: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer). The message contained information about an event that was thousands of years in the making. All of Israel and the world had been waiting for this event to happen. It would change everything! God's ultimate strength would be found in a little baby. 

          “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:28-33)

          I can’t imagine what went through the mind of Mary as she was told what was going to happen. There must have been fear and awe. There were questions. There was the shock of the message. Why her? Why now?

          This was indeed shocking for Mary…and while it was a wonderful surprise filled with the highest honor…it included trouble and stress. Mary was pledged to be married. Her life would already have the stress of starting a new household, , traveling for a census, and now this angel out of nowhere telling her of a child that was not Joseph's...would he believe her? Divorce her? Abandon her? What would her family think? What would others think?

              So Gabriel told Mary, “Do not be afraid…you have found favor with God.” (Luke 1:30) Gabriel reassures Mary that God is showing her unmerited favor. Don’t be afraid…. Don’t get riled up…. Don’t worry… for God is at work….God is at the heart of this…and He is a loving God. Though troubled by the angels words Mary trusted what the angel proclaimed. In her lowly state by faith Mary had great strength.

              There are so many times when things happen to us without our planning that can be quite devastating. There are many sudden deaths, tragedies, and accidents that occur. None of these things can be planned…yet the Lord is still at the heart of the situation. Yes, we know what fear is…we know what worry is…we know what it is like to be shocked… and to wonder "what do we do next." Even when we are weak...God is strong. And like Mary we have nothing to fear. The promise given to Mary is also given to us:

              “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:31-33)

              Mary would give birth to her Lord and Savior and ours. She would give birth to the Messiah…the one that would bear the sins of the world. The one that would die on the cross for her and us. The one who would save all people from sin, death, and the devil. Mary knew the Old Testament; she knew the prophesies…she knew that in becoming the virgin mother of God’s Son, she would most certainly need the fullest protection from God. How else would she be able to defend herself from slander or protect baby Jesus from murderous hands? God assures her of His protection and love. It is the same protection and love he has for each of you; His beloved children no matter the troubles that you face in this life.

              God had a plan and was working it out through His own chosen mean. There are often times when we question if God is doing anything at all because we don’t see Him at work…or we don’t see anything spectacular happening. People are given faith through plain water and the Word at the font? Jesus comes to us in stale bread wafers and wine? Life would come through Jesus' death?  Strength in weakness? How is that possible?

              Look at Mary's faith. Mary believed Jesus to be her Lord and Savior…just as we do. This is why we confess the faith with Mary in her Magnificat (p.43 TLH Read). “My soul doth magnify the Lord: and my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior. For He hath regarded: the low estate of His handmaiden: For, behold from henceforth: all generations shall call me blessed. For He that is mighty hath done to me great things: and holy is His name. And His mercy is on them that fear Him: from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with His arm: He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats: and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich He hath sent empty away. He hath  holpen His servant Israel in remembrance of His mercy: as He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever."

           Through the Holy Spirit…Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb. This miracle…is the Christmas miracle…it is the only reason for the Christmas season. And because Jesus is the reason for season...you are the reason for the season! Through this baby … through Jesus… who would suffer and die on the cross… we are saved. “And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:33)

              Thanks be to God for the gift of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who was born to live a life of punishment for our sake and even death on the cross. Yes, God had a plan for us…a plan to save. Though we are weak God is strong. Even when it seemed Jesus was weak...hanging on a cross..He was strong; strong to save us.

          As we celebrate the birth of Christ...often in weakness doubting God's love for us, or that this baby really was God in the flesh born to save us, or that we are even worth saving...and we wonder how can this be?...remember the Angels promise to Mary...and to us: "Nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:37) Faith through simple water and the Word at the font. Our Lord's forgiveness and strength in bread and wine. The promise of life through death. Strength when we are weakest. Nothing is impossible with God! By faith we are strong in Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Clothed in Christ

Advent 3, 2017

"Clothed in Christ"

Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            Shakespeare is credited with saying "apparel oft proclaims the man." Mark Twain however is noted as saying, the more well known phrase, "Clothes make a man." The meaning is that the way you dress; the way others see you dressed influences how they think of you. Unfortunately that is true. If you see a gentleman wearing a fine suit, hat, overcoat, and Rolex... you'll assume they are wealthy and important. And when you see people begging on the side of the road...their dress isn't quite impressive; they might be wearing dirty or tattered clothes. So yes, we are often influenced by what we see; and as they say "clothes make a man."

          So what about your appearance?  Do you clean up nicely? Scripture might have something so say about that. Two weeks ago we heard Isaiah say these words: "But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6) Saint Paul tells us: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)

          We don't sound very well dressed. We appear to resemble all our sinful ways rather than good, righteous and loving people. Maybe we resemble someone else who has been making quite the appearance on television this time of year. Maybe we resemble Charlie Brown  in a Charlie Brown Christmas...when he picked that sad and awful looking Christmas tree. That poor tree was a reflection of Charlie Brown. The rest of the characters called him stupid, a goof up, hopeless, undependable, dumb, and laughed at him.

          That is exactly what we are as sinners and that is exactly what Satan proclaims to us. Satan accuses us of being exactly what we are: sinners. Satan points out our sinfulness...or wickedness...our wretchedness. Satan tells us that God could never love us or forgive us. Just look at us...just look at our sinful deeds... if the clothes make the man... what does our wretchedness make us? Satan tells us that we are hopeless and worthless. Others follow suit and point fingers. And often we fall for Satan's words. We fall for Satan's lies.

          Satan is right when he calls us unrighteous and wicked and hopeless. Satan is right when he calls us unloving, murderous, unfaithful liars. Satan is right when he points out our sinfulness and wretchedness.  But Satan is wrong...dead wrong...when he says we are worthless and unable to be loved or forgiven by God.

          Listen again to God's Words proclaimed by the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me... to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified." (Isaiah 61:1a, 3) Isaiah records the people saying: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10)

          What a change... from tattered rags and the ugliness of sin to being adorned with beautiful garments, a headdress, and jewels. How did that happen? Why did it happen? Who made it happen?

          "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26-27) "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27)

          We are changed. We are cleansed. We are raised from death in sin to life in Christ. We are clothed in Christ. All because God loves us. Don't listen to others that call you worthless. Don't listen to others that laugh at you or make fun of you because of your appearance. Don't give in when others mock your faith. Don't listen to Satan who says your unlovable and worthless. Instead listen to the one who gave up His only begotten Son for you. Listen to the one who gave up His life for you. Listen to God your Father and to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

          For when you listen to them you discover your worth. When you listen to God you hear of how loved you are. You are loved more than anything else in creation. You are valued higher than anything in this world. "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ." ( 1 Peter 1:18-19)

          William Shakespeare and Mark Twain were right, in a way: "apparel oft proclaims the man." "Clothes make a man." Do you remember what that poor tree Charlie Brown chose looked like later...after Linus shared the true meaning of Christmas and the other children realized how mean they were... by their love that little tree became beautiful. Just like this marvelous tree to my left. And you by God's perfect love; through the waters of Holy Baptism are clothed in Christ. In Christ you are made perfect. In Christ your beauty is beyond compare. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Be careful what you ask for

Advent 1, 2017

"Be careful what you ask for"

Isaiah 64:1-9

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            Isaiah wrote our Old Testament text this morning to people living in what would be the future for him; to the Israelites living in Babylonian captivity. Earlier Isaiah had written to people in his own time warning them of their nation's destruction. Now in our text he writes to the remnant of Israel who would be suffering under slavery and despair. It is for and with those suffering people that he prays to God "Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down..." (Isaiah 64:1)

          Come Lord. Return to us Lord. We need you now. Your enemies mock us. Return to us and show them that you are truly God. Come now. Come.

          A number of years ago when I was Pastor in central Illinois it was the middle of summer and we were in a state wide drought. Things were not looking good. Every time the forecast called for rain in the week ahead...it fizzled out. Things were on the verge of desperation and despair. On one of those hot dry days I met with some of the trustees at church. Our conversation turned to the weather...and both of these faithful men...faithful farmers...told me I needed to start praying for rain. I reminded them that I had been praying for rain...in my own prayers and the prayers of the Church. They suggested that maybe I pray more...or pray "better." So right then and there we prayed that rain would come.

          Do you know what happened? Later that afternoon a small yet fierce storm cell popped up. It even precipitated on those two trustees' farms. But it wasn't exactly what they wanted. That precipitation was hail. When they commented to me on Sunday about what took place I looked at them and said "be careful what you ask for."

          Be careful what you ask for. Why? Because you might just get it. People in general ask for a lot of things. During this time of year... children ask... for A LOT of things... I want this or that for Christmas... PLEASE... I WON'T ASK FOR ANYTHING ELSE!!! PLEASE! I know that I've been guilty of those types of words. And our children, God love them, will try their best to bargain one way or another for what they want.

          How often do we try to bargain with God. How often do we pray...but without true hope that our prayers will be answered. How often do we truly pray? Have you ever thought...before, during, or after praying... "be careful what you ask for because you might just get it."

          There is one word in the first verse of our text from Isaiah that struck me. It is the word "come." That word appears 117 times in the book of Isaiah alone... and out of all the books of the Bible Isaiah uses the word "come" the most often.

          How often do you pray for our Lord to come? I do daily. At each meal we pray with our boys "Come, Lord Jesus be our guest..." Sometimes I look back at that request...especially after one or both boys doesn't eat a good meal... gets in trouble for a thousand and one reasons... and I wonder... what if Jesus really did come and join us for that meal. What would he think? What would he think of my sons' behavior? My behavior? And when we ask Jesus to come during our prayer... how long is he going to stay? What else might he see?

          The truth is that we do want Jesus to be with us and help us when we need him. The truth is also... that we don't want Jesus to stick around. We don't want him to be around when our tempers are short and we are fighting. We don't want Jesus around when we are doing things we know we shouldn't. We only want Jesus around when we want and need him. We don't want Jesus around to see how often we fail...or see the skeletons we hide in our closets. I would say when it comes to asking for Jesus to be around... be careful what you ask...except there is another truth... Jesus is with us always. He already does see us failing. He already sees each of our sins. He knows about every one of the skeletons in our closets. And that truth is scary!  

          Maybe we should lament like Isaiah who says, "Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities." (Isaiah 64:5-7)

          God knows each and every one of our sins. Great or small. He knows them. That scares me. It reminds me of things I did in my youth...that I thought I'd get away with and didn't. It scares me to think of what my own children might do.

          I'm reminded about when I was younger, I'm not sure how old I was, and I was playing with a butterfly knife in our living room and accidentally cut off a piece of a wooden armrest on my mother's antique chair. I searched the house for wood glue to repair the damage. I put it back in place. I thought my parents would never know. They did. They asked me if anything happened while they were gone... "nope." Did something possible happen to the chair.... "of course not" (But I wondered how they knew). They then marched me to the chair...the chair where a piece of wood that was glued into place...had slid about an inch and hardened into the wrong place. Not to mention that on the table next to the chair...laid my knife...forgotten there by yours truly. They knew.

          My parents knew what happened. They questioned me hoping that I would confess so that they could forgive me. The opportunity was mine... but I tried to hide...conceal... lie about what happened. But they knew. Amazingly the still forgave me. They still loved me.

          Yes, it's scary that God knows all our sins, all of our skeletons...everything. But what is even greater and more important is that while God knows all of this... He still forgives us; He still loves us.

          That is the same comfort and joy that Isaiah speaks of "But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Be not so terribly angry, O Lord, and remember not iniquity forever. Behold, please look, we are all your people." (Isaiah 64:8-9)

          We are God's people and just as Isaiah prayed. Be careful what you ask for? Have no fear of God's blessings. For even as Isaiah prayed for God to come... knowing that God knew their sins... God blessed His people beyond measure. For God the Father sent His Son. Immanuel. God with us. And Jesus took all of our sins; all of the skeletons in our closest upon himself to the cross. And Christ our Lord reminds us... using the language of Isaiah... "For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:12)

          Come Lord Jesus. Come again this Christmas and teach us anew of Your love for us. Love that would send God as man to die and redeem us. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.