We are – not – going to meet tonight May 13. Again – no – worship – in – the – sanctuary – tonight May 13. We are planning to ease back into Wednesday Worship starting the first week of June. Which will be June 3. We will wait to see how things are at that point and will keep you informed to confirm or delay that start date. Again however, no worship tonight in the sanctuary. Remember you can always go to the website or Facebook page of the church to enjoy the Sunday Service.
Psalm 27 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—    whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—    of whom shall I be afraid? 13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord     in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
We again remind ourselves as we look at our version of ‘Phase Two’ that we are keeping our hearts and minds focused on God’s provision for our salvation through the work and the merit of Jesus Christ alone. That He is the stronghold of our lives and that nothing in this world can separate us from the will of God which is ours in Christ. And that none of this waiting we are doing is outside the will or sovereign providence of our Father God.
In ‘Phase Two’ of our coming again to the sanctuary to worship, with your input, we’re waiting to return to ‘Worship on Wednesday’ till at least June. We’ll make a further determination at that point. Again, according to a careful review of the documents from the state, county, and city, we can worship in the sanctuary while maintaining prescribed precautions. These include, the current practice of physical or ‘social’ distancing of 6 feet between family groups or individual persons, and the use of masks or full-face shields until seated in the sanctuary. Please do not ignore this, this applies to everyone as coming in and out of the sanctuary we will likely be closer than 6 feet at times and wearing a mask will contribute to everyone’s safety.  Again, out of love for God and neighbor we wish to practice these safety measures.
Now as for the nuts and bolts of how Phase Two, receiving Holy Communion will work. All that follows has been discussed by the Pastor and Elders along with contributions from guidelines given by both the Synod and District.
First, just a reminder in the first section of how to enter and exit the sanctuary.
Please be comfortable in either coming to the sanctuary or staying home to worship.
Please be sure you are not symptomatic of Covid-19. According to CDC those symptoms may include, cough, fever, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, headache/muscle pain, fatigue, loss of smell/taste
There will be no shaking of hands, no hugs, no fist, elbow or knee ‘bumps’; basically, no touching!
There will be no hymnals in the pews.
The entire service will be on paper bulletins on a table in the narthex. (We will be projecting the service on the screens on the walls as we usually do as well)
The offering plate is on the piano as you enter the sanctuary. Please use that for the act of worship of returning to God your tithes and offerings as you enter or exit. We will not be ‘passing the plate’.
We will not be using the red sign-in booklets.
Please leave all doors open. Please use only the restrooms across from Sonya’s office and leave those entrance doors open. There are disinfectant wipes on the counter to use on the stall doors.
There are cones on the floor and bean bags or bricks on the pews to guide your six-foot spacing. Do not sit directly behind or in front of someone if they are not a family member. Allow that six-foot margin of space.
Now as to Holy Communion. We will do as we did when I had my hip problems and use a ‘walk-through’ format with these changes:
We will commune first the lectern side then the pulpit side.
Come forward in your family group making sure to remain 6 ft apart using the pew markers and the floor cones.
The pastor, wearing gloves, will deposit the Host in your cupped hands without touching you.
The wine is only in trays. You take one cup while the elder speaks the distribution words. Then you deposit the cup in the basket and return directly to your seat.
There will be only one dismissal for all tables.
This reset and restart of worship in the sanctuary is a ‘work-in-progress’. If you have a suggestion for improvement of how to protect each other, please contact the church office or pastor.
In conversations with the elders a week or so ago, after the new government guidance was given regarding groups gathering and restricted travel, we continue to suspend our meeting in the sanctuary for worship on Sundays and Wednesdays as well as all other group meetings and preschool on our campus.
What we are doing is learning to worship together in spirit and in truth as Christ called the Samaritan woman to do, while being apart during this time. We are making available a recorded worship service and sermon by Pastor Rhodes every week. As we’ve just come through Holy Week those services and sermons as well as the last 3 weeks of Wednesday Lenten services are on You Tube with easy links to them through our web site and Facebook page.
We are also using our phone-tree system to notify people when new services are uploaded. This same system allows us to send email and text at the same time. We’ve not only added links to our pages, we also attach our complete service folder, our announcements (with prayer list) and the sermon notes for your use. In this way you can participate in the responsive readings as well as have the hymns and songs in the right places in the service. If you’d like to, you may be added to the phone list or just receive the emails or just the texts. You can contact the church office at zionbolivar@windstream.net to get more information.
As to Holy Communion. One of the documents from the synod made the analogy that forgoing communion for a time is no different than if you’re sick or hospitalized and unable to take anything by mouth. (Think of someone having their jaw wired shut for months!) This pandemic is a sickness that is preventing us all from coming together to take communion. So, we need not worry that God’s promises to us are dulled or diminished in their efficacy or power simply by us all “being sickâ€.
For now we are learning to hunger and thirst for the time when we may again gather together around the altar to be fed on God’s Holy Food to strengthen our faith and partake thereby of the forgiveness of sins and continue proclaiming the Lord’s death till He returns in glory. While we long for our fellowship together at the altar rail, we have no doubt that God’s grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, peace and righteousness to us remain unchanged regardless of the passage of time since, on our knees, we last heard the words, “Given and shed for youâ€. We still have the gospel proclamation and we still hear the words of absolution following the confession of our sins and we are thereby still strengthened for life and service by God’s Holy Word.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!
Psalm 27 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—    whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—    of whom shall I be afraid?
13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord     in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
It is good to know that we serve a God Who is sovereign in all things, Who gives salvation to all, and we trust in His strength for all things, including the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and healing. Through such gifts of God, we have the medical sciences which help us. We are going to have services tomorrow as is our custom so we may be strengthened by God’s Word and Sacrament.
However, some of our usual ways of doing things will be adapted in light of the wisdom needed to navigate our current circumstances. I was on a conference call with our District President, Dr. Lee Hagan, Saturday morning and he offered some things to add to what we, the Elders and I, had made plans to alter already.
Please, if you’re feeling sick or have any symptoms of fever etc., it is best to remain home. (I’m going to try live streaming the service on Facebook! Pray that that works!)
I’m also going to be wiping down all the normally touched surfaces, pew tops, door plates, knobs, and handles, and the altar railings with Clorox wipes.
So here are the changes for tomorrow (some of these may be in effect for the next several weeks, this is just to get us through tomorrow at a minimum) :
As you enter, the greeters will give only a verbal greeting, no handshaking.
The bulletins will be on the table in the narthex, please pick one up for yourself as the ushers are being asked to not handle them.
The same goes for the bottles of water that will be on the same table. You’ll need one of those for a sermon illustration. You’re asked to wait to open them till that part of the sermon when I give you the go-ahead for that.
There will be hand sanitizer bottles on the tables outside the sanctuary double doors – please use them.
We will not be passing the offering plates and ask that you use them on your way in or out of the sanctuary. They will be on the piano, on the right, as you enter.
During the “Passing of the Peace.†greet one another verbally only and refrain from shaking hands.
We will not use or pass along the red attendance books.
During the Sacrament of the Altar, please keep your hands or a hand flat open for me to place the wafer in your palms.
Also, again with guidance from the District, we are suspending the use of the Common Cup for now. However, I am keeping it on the altar to remind us that we indeed share in this one Cup as the Lord called us to.
The trays with individual cups have had the cups spaced so you may retrieve a cup without contacting another cup.
Also, following the service, Pastor Rhodes will greet you in the narthex with his hands over his heart to indicate his pastoral care for you. As the phrase goes, ‘out of an abundance of caution,’ he does not want to pick up and pass along a contagion to anyone or everyone. Please be assured that we are doing these things out of pastoral love and concern for the whole congregation and our guests and visitors.
The above is what we used to get through last Sunday. And it was good, thanks be to God!
I’m soon to be in a conference call with circuit pastors to discuss options and ideas of how to proceed the next few weeks / months.
I’ve been reading the whole letter Luther wrote to a brother pastor regarding whether or not it is permissible for a pastor to flee in the face of the plague. To boil it down a bit it comes to this.
Take care of yourself so you can take care of one another.
If you are free of the disease and can aid your neighbor without undue threat to yourself, do so.
As a pastor continue to offer word and sacrament ministry in some fashion so that people have the spiritual nourishment, they need in the face of what the devil is trying to do by use of the disease to harm and separate people from their trust in the Lord.
If your faith is such that you understand the disease to be God’s judgment on the sin of mankind (in general, not as a tit-for-tat for specific sins) and are accepting of both God’s judgment as well as His goodness to you in Christ and thus provides you the assurance that even if God allows the plague to kill you, you are not in fear because of the guarantee that Christ will bring you home to heaven, then do your best to serve your people and trust God to care for you.
Now looking ahead. I believe all of these options, or some combination of them, would be fine. We just need to decide a course to take and then monitor that for improvements as to how to best serve one another.
We could continue as we did 3/15
We could modify for time what we did on 3/15
We could suspend all meetings and services and seek to do something ‘online’
We could suspend all meetings and services and I could do something using the phonetree system.
May 1, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ:  Psalm 27 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—    whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—    of whom shall I be afraid?
13 I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord     in the land of the living.
14Â Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Over a month ago, on March 22, we talked about this Psalm and how we are doing what it says… to “Wait for the Lord.†And now, in the Lord’s providential timing we are able to again come together in the sanctuary to praise God for His salvation to us. We will return to the sanctuary for worship beginning the 10 of May, this Sunday at 10:30 AM. There will be no Sunday School before church as of now. We will revisit that again soon, but for now, no Sunday School before worship.
Following this Sunday, which will include the sacrament of baptism for Avaleigh Sierra, we will return to our schedule of communion on the 1st and 3rd Sundays and the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays. Wednesday worship will return on the 13th of May at 7:00 PM.
Before we get into the details of how we will conduct the service and what our gathering together will look like, I want to take a few minutes to preface the “how†with the “whyâ€; why we will have waited and why we will do things in a new way. Until now, when we are living in unprecedented times for most of us, I’ve not taken the time to teach on the “two kingdoms†doctrine which our theology teaches us is how God oversees His creation.
It starts with knowing that the providence of God is supreme over all things. As Christians we proclaim that God is Lord and King over all kingdoms and rulers of earth, both the manmade and the spiritual. Thus, we need to be mindful that God has established 2 kingdoms for the governing of this world. One is referred to as the ‘kingdom of the left’, in which God ordains governments and rulers to lead and give structure to society. And the other is the church, the ‘kingdom of the right’, whereby He oversees the spiritual realm of His creation. But these two operate in different ways.
God alone is supreme, and He allows earthly government and uses these earthly governments for His purposes. Though we do not see His reasoning, nor does He need to justify Himself to us, yet we acknowledge that the third, fourth, and fifth commandments and their meanings, teach us to love and honor God, respect government authority, and serve our neighbor in love.
Therefore, we learn that God sets all things in heaven and on earth according to His use for all His creation. And, we cannot see His ways as it applies to such things as tsunami’s, earthquakes, volcanos, storms, and hurricanes nor even things such as world wars or our current worldwide pandemic.
In His working in this ‘left hand’ kingdom God “hides†Himself behind the rulers of this world, through the people and institutions He allows to exist. In this, ‘kingdom of the left’, God uses the law to rule. He also uses the sword, as well as historic events or acts, again such as we are experiencing through this pandemic.
Meanwhile, in ‘the kingdom of the right’, in the church, God does not hide Himself. But in this spiritual kingdom, He makes Himself plainly known by His Word and Sacraments. He is thus revealed in the kingdom of the right, and not hidden as He is in the kingdom of the left.
In the church, in the spiritual kingdom of the right, God rules through mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness. We Christians do not combine the left- and right-hand kingdoms, but the Christian is in-between the two. We live according to grace in the church, but as a sojourner in this world we must also live according to the rules of the world and see there God’s hidden hand at work.
Some would wish for a distinct line between the ‘kingdoms’ of the left and right, but we live in both. At the same time, we cannot separate ourselves to live solely in one kingdom or the other but must live in both yet not improperly mix the two. We do not confuse or blend one with the other, nor do we think we can withdraw from society or incorrectly mix society and the church. We abide by the laws of the kingdom of the left because of our love for God and love for our neighbor. (And we obey only as long as governments and rulers do not try to force sinful action or exert coercion in spiritual matters regarding the kingdom of the right.)
Much more can be taught and discussed regarding the ‘two kingdoms’ over which God alone reigns as Ruler, but this very brief look at this doctrine is meant to help us understand why we are doing what we have done and what we will do in relation to the state’s directives.
So, we have been abiding by the regulations put forth by federal, state, county, and city governments to show our love for God and our care for our neighbors by foregoing meeting for worship, Sunday school or other gatherings, in the sanctuary or on campus for a time. But now these various government entities have put forth new guidelines and according to a careful review of the documents put out by the state, county, and city, we can again return to worship in the sanctuary while still maintaining prescribed precautions.
We are not limited to only 50 people or less, nor do the restrictions on square footage to occupancy ratios apply to churches according these government documents.
However, we are to follow the current practice of physical or ‘social’ distancing of 6 feet between family groups or individual persons. We will also need to have people using masks or full-face shields until seated in the sanctuary. Please do not ignore this, this applies to everyone as coming in and out of the sanctuary we will likely be closer than 6 feet at times and wearing a mask will contribute to everyone’s safety.
Again, out of love for God and neighbor we wish to practice these safety measures. And as we are being given the joy of celebrating the sacrament of Holy Baptism for Avaleigh Sierra on May 10, I want everyone to wear a mask or face shield so as to protect her.
Now as for the nuts and bolts of how we will gather. This will be our ‘Phase One’ of restarting worship in the sanctuary. (Phase Two will come next week regarding the receiving of Holy Communion.) The following things have been discussed by the Pastor and Elders along with contributions from guidelines given by both the Synod and District.
Please be comfortable in either coming to the sanctuary or staying home to worship. (But if you come, please remember to wear regular street or Sunday clothes, not pj’s and slippers😊!)
Please be sure you are not symptomatic of Covid-19. According to CDC those symptoms may include, cough, fever, shortness of breath, chills, sore throat, headache/muscle pain, fatigue, loss of smell/taste
There will be no shaking of hands, no hugs, no fist, elbow or knee ‘bumps’; basically, no touching!
There will be no hymnals in the pews.
The acolyte will be sitting in a chair in front of the altar to assist in recording the service.
The entire service will be printed on paper bulletins. The bulletins will be laid out on an 8-foot table in the narthex, please take one, being careful to avoid touching other ones. (We will be projecting the service on the screens on the walls as we usually do as well)
The offering plates will be on the piano as you enter the sanctuary. Please use them for the act of worship of returning to God your tithes and offerings as you enter or exit. We will not be ‘passing the plate’ but we will be singing the offertory and saying the stewardship prayer at the appointed place in the service.
We will not be using the red sign-in booklets.
There will be markers on the floor and on the pews denoting six foot spacing. Use these as a guide as you come and go and as you sit. Do not sit directly behind someone in the pew in front of you if they are not a family member. Allow that six-foot margin of space.
Please leave all doors open. We are trying to be as ‘touchless’ as possible with hard surfaces. Please use only the restrooms across from Sonya’s office and leave those entrance doors open. There are disinfectant wipes on the counter to use on the stall doors.
This reset and restart of worship in the sanctuary is a ‘work-in-progress’. If you have a suggestion for improvement of how to protect each other, please contact the church office or pastor.
Returning to Psalm 27, the Lord is indeed our light and salvation, we have no one to fear. We give thanks to God that, so far, our congregation has been spared from this pandemic’s direct attack. That’s not to say that God may not yet allow for such an eventuality. And if in His divine providence that should take place, we will serve one another as best we are able and as God gives us the sight and strength so to do.
Soli Deo Gloria – All Glory to God!
Peace in Christ,
Pastor Tom Rhodes
 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Those words remind us that the cross is the sign of commitment that God made to us in Christ. The cross, St Paul tells us in this verse, the cross is the power of God for those who are being saved! It’s the revelation of the cross as God’s source of our salvation that we commit to as Christians.
What a thing! This cross, which, as a device of torture, is a symbol of defeat and death to this world. But the cross is for us the power of God. Only those who vanquish others have the power to use a cross against the defeated. So, to this world the cross is a symbol that those who are put on it, have been conquered. And yet, that same cross, for the Christian, reveals the victory of God for our salvation.
This cross reveals to us that Christ held nothing back. He was not restrained in His commitment to the plan of salvation for this world. From the OT lesson today, For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
The plan of God is to shatter the yoke of sin and to remove the rod of the oppressor, Satan. That is what the cross has done, that plan has been carried out. The plan of God to bring salvation to the whole world was laid out before the world began. But it had to be properly executed, for it to be fully realized.
In today’s gospel lesson the plan included the calling of disciples, the healing of sickness and disease and the preaching of the good news of the kingdom of God. God’s plan was, and still is, that all His creation worship Jesus. He came to fulfill God’s plan of salvation by allowing Himself to be defeated on the cross and to die the only innocent death, but then to rise victorious to new life again. And in that victory, again from the OT lesson, Jesus is the one Who rejoices as people do at the harvest. Only in that way could we see that God’s passion for us knows no limits or constraints.
In our sin and rebellion, we put crushing limits not only on ourselves but also on creation. God’s plan has always been to free us from that –to shatter the yoke that burdened us. And the only thing that could reveal that to us would be His commitment that shows His victory over sin, death and the devil. Only God can break the limits we put on ourselves in sin. Sin’s power must be destroyed if those limits are to be broken. And the commitment of God to breaking us free rests in the cross alone. That, defeat in the eyes of world, is victory for us under sin.
Many years ago the bishop, of the Catholic Church in the Philippines, had to check out a young woman’s claim that she had seen Jesus in visions. The bishop told her, “The next time you see Jesus, ask Him what sin your bishop committed when he was just a young theologian” The next time he saw her, the bishop asked, “Did you ask Jesus about the sin I committed when I was a young man?” She answered, “Yes, I did. Jesus said He didn’t remember!”
Whether or not the details of the story happened, the truth of this story is huge good news for us. Such is Christ’s commitment to us that He forgets our sins!! Only He can do that as He tells us in Is 43:25 & Jer 31:34. Only God can choose to forget sins, and only the blood of Jesus Christ makes that choice possible. And it’s only the commitment of Christ to go to the cross to shed His blood there that frees us from our guilt in God’s sight.
When Cortez landed his 500 men on the east coast of Mexico, he set fire to the ships that had brought them. His warriors, watching their means of return go up in flames, knew they were committing their whole life to the cause of conquering a new world for Spain.
So also with you and me. When our Lord Jesus Christ says to the disciples, and to you and I, “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people†– when the call of the Spirit sets our feet on the shores of commitment to the cross of Christ, our ‘ships’ are also burned. We are set free from all the worldly loves and loyalties that might come between us and Christ and between one another.
The commitment made in our baptism was, first from God to us. To redeem us, rescue us and to buy us back. We’ve then committed ourselves into the truth of God’s word and to the plan of what God has done for each of us. He has removed our sins from us. We are dead to them and they’re His responsibility now. As we said, He alone can forget sin, and for the sake of the blood of Jesus He does just that. We have relief in that, but for that relief to be experienced, we must trust what God has said He has done!
We think that since we cannot forget our sin, that God cannot either. What we really forget in all this is; we are not God. He has said what He has promised to do, and we tend to reduce Him to our level and say, ‘no… He surely can’t do that!’
But He can! And He does! And we now live and trust and commit to put our whole being into that truth, by following our leader Jesus Christ. The plan of following Christ is that we follow – not lead or walk our own way and indulge our sinfulness. If we do that, we deny the cross and its power to free us.
When Jesus asked the men to follow Him today that is what He was asking for, a commitment. A commitment of their life to His life. This was not simply asking them to go for a walk by the seashore with Jesus and they knew and understood that. They were being asked to follow the way of Jesus.
That meant then, and still means today, to follow in the / way / of the / cross. Jesus knew what He was asking of them even if they didn’t fully understand it. We however have an advantage; in that we know that in our commitment to following Christ we commit to the cross of Christ. And that cross ties us to God’s prior commitment, it’s His commitment that comes first and we see that in both the cross and the resurrection of Jesus as well.
God’s commitment to us – to raise us from the dead as He raised Christ, is His promise. We place our whole life in God’s hands – we trust Him to keep His promise of salvation that was made in the Old Testament lesson today. Vs 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
That’s God’s commitment to us. We’re called to die to ourselves and to then live in the light of the gospel alone. We too are called to be committed to the way of Christ, the way of the cross! And that brings us back to the verse from Corinthians. Forthe word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The cross of Christ’s death is what we live by. And that is foolishness to this world. Our ships have been burned and there is no going back. So, we go forward. We go forward together caring for one another knowing that, in the power of Christ’s cross, God has washed away our sins and He forgets them all. We go forward together, Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel. In Jesus name, amen.
Sermon #1068 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO
Old Testament Reading                                 Isaiah 9:1-4
9 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
2 The people walking in darkness                                     as warriors rejoice     have seen a great light;                                                   when dividing the plunder. on those living in the land of deep darkness                       4 For as in the day of Midian’s defeat,     a light has dawned.                                                         you have shattered 3 You have enlarged the nation                                        the yoke that burdens them,     and increased their joy;                                                   the bar across their shoulders, they rejoice before you                                                       the rod of their oppressor.     as people rejoice at the harvest,
Epistle Reading                                  1 Corinthians 1:10-18
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paulâ€; another, “I follow Apollosâ€; another, “I follow Cephasâ€; still another, “I follow Christ.â€
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18Â For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Holy Gospel                                         Matthew 4:12-25
 12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,     the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,     Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people living in darkness     have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death     a light has dawned.â€
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.â€
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,†Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.†20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21Â Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22Â and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
23Â Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24Â News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25Â Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.
Out of Egypt I have called my son – that’s the phrase that really stuck out to my reading this gospel lesson this week. Out of Egypt I have called my son. The reason it stuck out was because for that prophecy to be fulfilled required great patience on the part of Joseph. You’ve heard of the patience of Job, but it’s the patience of Joseph, the righteous man we talked of last week, that’s so impressive in today’s lesson.
Look at verse 13 “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,†he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.â€
That part about the angel telling Joseph stay there until I tell you is also a kicker for me. For how long a time that stay there was we don’t know with any certainty. This passage, as we talked about in our opening, tells us that Herod had all the male babies 2 and under killed in and around Bethlehem. Also, that when the angel of the Lord had Joseph return to Israel, Archelus was reigning as king since his father Herod had died. That would seem to indicate that Joseph likely was waiting in Egypt for something along the lines of a year and a half to two years at least. But when he went down to Egypt at the direction of the angel of the Lord, Joseph was told only, to wait there till I tell you and the reason was to protect the life of the Child, Jesus.
There was much that Joseph wasn’t told or knew about. He surely had no idea of the slaughter of the innocents that would follow his leaving for Egypt with Mary and Jesus. He had no way to know of the coming death and martyrdom of those who died. He also had no idea how long he would wait or sojourn in Egypt. He wasn’t told anything other than to go, take the child and His mother. Go to Egypt to protect the Child and wait for word from the angel of the Lord.
God put him in Egypt and he waited… with his young family to be called home to Israel. God said to wait there in safety and I will call you and bring you back. That was the promise God made to Joseph. God also made a promise to the father of another man named Joseph to return him also to the land of Canaan.
In the book of Genesis God promises Joseph’s father, (remember the patriarch Joseph that was sold into slavery by his brothers), God promises Joseph’s father Jacob that he should go down into Egypt during the famine to savehis family and that God promised to then bring him back. That’s one reason why the land of Canaan, the land of Israel, is known as the Promised Land. It’s the land God promised to Abraham, Isaac and then to Jacob, Joseph’s father. And Canaan is the land that Joseph swore to return Jacob to. That’s the land of promise.
And in today’s gospel lesson, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, is given the same promise by God.  ‘Go down to Egypt, protect your family, and wait there till I call you back.’ God made a promise to return Joseph and his young family back to the land of Israel. There’s such beautiful symmetry to what God does isn’t there? And it isn’t there just for the beauty of it either. It’s there to teach us to trust God and His word of promise. That promise is there for all who will believe in Him.
God, sent Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus down to Egypt with the promise to Joseph that by this his family, like the patriarch Joseph’s family during the famine, his little family would be saved from death and then He would call Him back home. Egypt was not to be the land of promise; it was the land of sojourn and safety till the promise was fulfilled at the right time.
God always does the right thing at the right time. And there’s also a lesson in that for us. He’s made us a promise through the boy Jesus that Joseph takes down to Egypt; to one day call us home to the promised land… of heaven. But that will only be at that right day and time. Not before and not later either, just as He did with Jacob and Joseph, sending them into Egypt during the famine and bringing them back. And as He did with Joseph and Mary and Jesus sending them to Egypt to escape death and returning them by His word of promise, so He will also restore us to His land of promise… at the right time.
In today’s lesson Joseph, Mary and Jesus had to wait in Egypt till Herod died before it was the right time. Joseph, when he went down to Egypt couldn’t see that plan. It’s like a tapestry. When you see only the working side of it you can’t see the finished and completed pattern the craftsman is putting into the design. So also with God’s timing. This side of the tapestry we can’t see the pattern God is creating. But we trust that all things are happening in His time.
As we come to the close of one year and the exciting start of a new year, it’s the right time to remember that God is in charge of the timing of all things. For the life of our congregation and for our individual lives, God knows where He’s safely taking us. Like Joseph, we’ve been given God’s promise that He’ll call us home when the time is right, but also like Joseph we’re to make a living while we wait. We’re to be about the task of raising our family.
For us, as a congregation, that means moving ahead with Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel. We do those things while we sojourn here on earth. Joseph went as He was told and took care of his family whileHewaited. And then, when God called Him home, He obediently went.
But while He was in Egypt, like when all Israel was in Egypt under pharaoh, God was tempering him. That is, God was making him ready for what came next. Being in Egypt wasn’t simply a safe placeholder; it was a furnace, or a kiln of sorts. It was a time that was used to prepare Joseph and Mary for what was to follow.
You know when you make a piece of pottery you don’t just take the clay, make a pot and use it. You have to put the pot in the kiln, in the fire, to temper it, to make it useful. All the hard work that goes into making the pot will be wasted if the clay isn’t tempered by fire and made sturdy so that what’s put into it is preserved and doesn’t run all over the place. Tempering makes the pot keep its shape and makes it safe to use. Once it’s fired, then it can be glazed and decorated. And that decorating means going back into the fire. That can happen multiple times depending on what the pot’s to be used for. God sometimes puts us in the fire more than once to temper us. He knows what He wants to accomplish with us. And He uses things, like a sojourn in Egypt, to make us useful.
Sometime when you’re at C&C or Wal-Mart, go into the garden section and look at the flowerpots you can buy. Notice that their maker usually marks them. They’re proud of the work they did. Be sure to look at that mark. And then remember that God does that with you. He’s put His mark on you in your baptism. You bear His seal on you and He wants others to know you are His. You belong in His family, and He’s familiar with you. Just as the potter’s mark was made on the flowerpot you buy, so you’ve been given the ‘family’ mark. It’s the mark of the cross where Jesus, the Lamb of God, died for the sins of the world. That mark is on your forehead and your heart, and it identifies you as one redeemed by the blood of Christ, the Son God called out of Egypt according to His promise.
At any rate, when Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt he had to leave behind all that was familiar. All the comfortable relatives and friends and places; all of that, he left behind at the word of the angel of the Lord. It surely wasn’t an easy thing to do, but he did it. He left what was known and what was comfortable and went to where God directed him, to a place of safety. But he had God’s promise that he would return… when the time was right. And it didn’t happen in a few days or weeks. It was months and years. It was time spent living onlyon the promise of God.
And as Joseph waited, with such great patience, he kept busy taking care of his family. I’ve no doubt that Joseph practiced his carpentry while waiting for God’s call to return to Israel. In fact, Joseph may have learned a new thing or two about carpentry while he was there. Things he wouldn’t have learned if he had simply returned to Nazareth straight away after Jesus was born. The timing of that return was in God’s hands and Joseph simply had to wait.
That’s like us. We too have the promise of Jesus that what He, the Lamb of God, did in dying on the cross and in His resurrection from the grave, has given us the guarantee that we too will be called home. To our home in heaven. This Boy that we’re told in verse 15 that, God out of Egypt calls His son, this Son, this Boy gives us the assurance that we have God’s promise to call us out from our sojourn here on earth, into the promised land of heaven, there!
Yes, we’ve seen another year come to a close. But that also means an exciting new year is ahead for us. It brings us a year closer to that promise of going home being fulfilled. And in this coming year we wait… like Joseph. And we do… like Joseph did. We do what we can to take care of our family, to take care of one another in our church family here. We wait in hope and faith and trust, in the safety of the word of God, which promises us that we too will be called to the Promised Land.
But not yet, …not while God is still tempering us. And as He does so we use the skills and talents and gifts He’s given us, like the carpenter, to practice and grow in. God will use this next year to further temper us and make us even more useful to Him while we sojourn in this time and place. We learn today from Joseph to be patient and to be faithful to the promises God has given us through the Lamb of God which is His word, His living Word, His Son that He’s called out of Egypt – our Lord Jesus Christ. In His name, amen.
Sermon #1063 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO
Old Testament Reading              Isaiah 63:7-14
7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us—yes, the many good things he has done for Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses. 8 He said, “Surely they are my people, children who will be true to meâ€; and so he became their Savior. 9 In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10 Yet they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he turned and became their enemy and he himself fought against them.
11 Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people—where is he who brought them through the sea, with the shepherd of his flock? Where is he who set his Holy Spirit among them, 12 who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses’ right hand, who divided the waters before them, to gain for himself everlasting renown, 13 who led them through the depths? Like a horse in open country, they did not stumble; 14 like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name.
 Epistle Reading                        Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.†7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
 Holy Gospel                             Matthew 2:13-23
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,†he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.â€
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.â€
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.â€
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.â€
21Â So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22Â But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23Â and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Wreath, carols, crèche and tree. These symbols of the season are things many of us use in advent time leading up to Christmas. But today, Christmas day, we move beyond the symbols… to the substance. Today we celebrate the Incarnation – Jesus being born in the flesh. Last night we talked about the earthly parents that God gave to raise His son Jesus who was born, the same as you and I are.
Remember that during advent we’ve been preparing to remember the 1st coming of the baby Jesus. And, that in that first coming God kept His first promise of a savior. The symbols of wreath, crèche and tree all are markers that remind us that God keeps His word. And now, His living Word to us, Jesus Christ, has been incarnated, He was born for the sake of the world.
Christ was not born for some abstract, artificial or obscure reason. Jesus being born wasn’t done as an intellectual exercise by the Divinity in order to play out some cosmic game. We come back to the words of the gospel writer today that say, Andthe word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. That phrase, ‘dwelling among us’ is what it means for Christ to be born into this world. Christ didn’t come in the abstract, He came intheflesh so the gospel of John reminds us. And it’s only by this incarnation, His coming in the flesh, that He could then and only then (!) do for you and the world what needed to be done.
He needed to come and… to die. Only a true human can die. Jesus, truly being born in the flesh; means that Christ truly can die.
The birth of Jesus in a lowly manger is a dramatic example of the equality of all people of all time before God and that God loves all people the same. Suppose Jesus had been born in a palace: The Wise Men might have gotten in, but the shepherds would’ve certainly been turned away at the gates by armed guards. Yet at the lowly manger, shepherds and kings could approach on an equal footing. God’s gift of life, through the death and resurrection of His only begotten Son, is forall people.
God in His love did not send down a delegation, a commission, or an unapproachable monarch – but a little baby. If Jesus was only spirit and not true flesh and blood, then His birth, and consequently His death, would mean nothing. And if He was only a man with original sin and guilt as you and I are, then again, His death would mean nothing for you and me.
Oh, he would accomplish saving His own life perhaps, but if He is not the Word of God made flesh, then His death on the cross would not cover the sins of the world, and His resurrection would not give us His promise of hope. As it is, we have the written word of God and God’s Holy Spirit to open our eyes to this truth. Only the Holy Spirit can lead us to recognize who Jesus is as both God and man; as the One who came to sacrifice Himself for the world.
Many years ago, during the Christmas season, an agnostic newspaper reporter saw three little girls standing in front of a store window which was full of toys and Christmas decorations. He walked up behind them and listened to their conversation. One of the little girls was blind. The other two were trying to describe for her some of the toys in the window. The reporter marveled at how difficult it was for the girls to describe these toys to someone who couldn’t see.
That became the basis of his newspaper story that week. Two weeks later he attended a worship service led by the great preacher Dwight Moody. The reporter had gone intending to write something about Christmas religious practices. That Sunday Moody, not knowing the reporter was in the sanctuary, told the newspaper story about the girls to illustrate the difficulty of unbelievers, who are spiritually blind, of unbelievers seeing the glory and gifts of Jesus, as our Savior. God’s Holy Spirit touched that reporter’s heart that day through the Word of God preached to him, and he became a child of God through faith in Jesus.
Without the aid of the Holy Spirit we simply cannotsee that Jesus came and totally emptied Himself of what it meant to be in possession of His divinity, of His God-ness while He was among us in mortal human flesh. “(He) made himself nothing”, literally “He emptied Himself.” That’s the expression St. Paul uses in Phil.2. I’m simply not capable of truly grasping the significance of this magnificent act because I can’t truly grasp what it means to be in heaven. In heaven, Christ was surrounded by all the glory that surrounds the dwelling place of God.
Myriads of holy angels worshiped and praised Him without ceasing. But He didn’t retain that divine glory and majesty or His divine rights, divine status and divine beauty – He let it allgo for a time. He emptied Himself of all glory, majesty and light. He left the holy and perfect realm of heaven to come to earth. And He gave up heaven willingly, in order to make His dwelling among us.
In His incarnation, He took on weak and frail human flesh. And more than that, Jesus was not even given human allure or appeal. There was nothing in His appearance that would give us a hint or a clue as to His divine nature, hidden under His human nature.
Isaiah 53:2 in foretelling the coming of the suffering servant of God who would redeem mankind, we’re given this description of the Servant:
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Jesus exchanged the glories of heaven to live in our sinful, fallen world. In heaven, He looked into the unstained eyes of the holy angels who worshiped Him. In this world, He saw only sin and rebellion in the eyes around Him. He traded His rightful crown of glory, for thorns and a cross; for you, me, and the world God created and loves.
Today we celebrate that Christ is born. That the word of God became flesh and made His dwelling among us so that He could die and rise again for us. That is the greatest of Christmas gifts, knowing that Godisforus, that God knows our needs and comes in the flesh of Jesus to touch us and meet our needs. Let me close with a bit of a strange story at Christmas, of what it means that God has come to us and touched us.
Millions of people watched as Greg Norman blew a huge lead in the Masters golf tournament in the spring of ’95, losing to Nick Faldo. After the debacle, the golf star says he experienced “the most touching few days†of his life. People from all over the world contacted him with words of encouragement. The mail ran four times the volume of what Norman received when he won the British Open in 1993. “It’s changed my total outlook on life and on people,†Norman says of the defeat. “There’s no need for me to be cynical anymore. My wife said to me, ‘You know, maybe this is better than winning the green jacket. Maybe now you understand the importance of it all.’ I never thought I could reach out and touch people like that. And the extraordinary thing is that I did it by losing.â€
That’s what the Incarnation means for us. We’ve been reached out to by God in our loss, truly in our being dead under sin and the power of the devil. God has come to touch us with more than mail and kind words. He came to touch us by becoming like us.
And odd as it seems, Jesus came in the flesh so He too could lose, lose everything in His death on the cross. And then by His divine power He rose again in triumph and victory. And that victory He has given to us by His gift of faith. That touch of God is now ours and nothing can take that away. And we have that touch because the baby Jesus has come and touched our us in taking on our humanity.
Christmas is this baby – is the Word of God to us. Christmas is God telling us that He is touching us. Christmas goes beyond the symbols of the season to its substance; the Word became flesh and makes His dwelling with us.
Jesus – the substance of the incarnation is the reason we can say ‘Merry Christmas’, amen.
Sermon #1062 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO
First Reading                               Isaiah 52:7-10
7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!†8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. 9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
 Second Reading                         Hebrews 1:1-4
1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
Holy Gospel                                    John 1:1-14
1Â In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2Â He was with God in the beginning. 3Â Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4Â In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5Â The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Billy Graham, Martin Luther, Moses, Jesus, Mary and Joseph; let me tell you something all these people share in common with you and I. None of them, with one notable exception, had any idea when they were little children what they would accomplish when they grew up.
It’s hard for us to imagine, for instance, a little Martin Luther running around telling his friends he was going to defy the emperor and live.
And what about Billy Graham? As a child I doubt he played with radio microphones, preaching to his neighborhood friends.
And then there’s Moses, he grew up in Pharaoh’s household. Sent “up-river†as a baby he wasn’t raised in a Hebrew home throughout his childhood. But when he grew up, he would lead that same Hebrew nation to the river Jordan, which he himself would never cross.
The point is that none of these as children knew what would happen to them as they grew up. Except of course the Baby whose birth we come together to celebrate tonight… Jesus knew. Jesus as a boy of 12, as the story we are told says, He knew that to be in the temple was to… ‘be in His father’s house’. He knew who He was and what He was sent to accomplish.
But the other people we mentioned as children, Mary and Joseph, I’m sure they didn’t know what would happen to them. But what God had planned for them was, to be faithful parents. I have to believe that God used their parents to teach them how to be good parents since God would give the job to both of them to parent His only child while on earth.
I’m sure that the little girl, Mary, who would become Jesus mother, had no earthly idea of what God had planned for her. In fact, in her song, the Magnificat, she makes it clear that she did not see herself as worthy of such an honor. And the boy Joseph had no thought of growing up to be anything other than a carpenter, like his father probably was.
And not only does he become a carpenter, but the most famous carpenter of all because of whom He raised as his own son. As one song has said, Jesus is the son of Joseph’s love. Jesus is the Boy whose birth we come together tonight to celebrate.
These two, Mary and Joseph would be used to bring up Jesus as good boy – I can’t imagine what that must have been like. But think of what Mary and Joseph went through, and worried about, what must they have thought.
I’ve got a book I like written by Max Lucado called, God Came Near, and in it’s a chapter called “25 questions for Maryâ€. These are questions that will be interesting to ask her one-day in heaven about what it was like to raise Jesus.  Here are a few of my favorites. How did He act at funerals? Did He ever come home with a black eye? Did He have any friends named Judas? Did He ever have to ask a question about scripture? What did He and his cousin John talk about as kids? And finally…
Did you ever think, that’s God eating my soup?
Faithful parents – that’s what God called Joseph and Mary to be. Jesus was raised by faithful earthly parents, so were most of the others we mentioned at the start. Along with Mary and Joseph, Billy Graham and Martin Luther, didn’t know what God would accomplish through them. But in the gospel lesson tonight we see Joseph and Mary in the process of accomplishing God’s calling for them.
Jesus as we said knew what He was sent to accomplish. He was sent to earth as the infant who was also God. And who grew to be the man who was also God. He came to live among us, teach us of God and His mercy love and grace, and then to die on the cross and rise again from the dead to life everlasting. He knew this about Himself as a child and as He grew. He knew that only by His coming and in His crucifixion and resurrection would we all receive, by grace through faith, the hope and assurance of eternal life. All this He knew.
And He accomplished that! Just as Mary and Joseph accomplished their roles in all this; as did Moses and Luther and as you will do also. Youare part of the story of this Baby, Jesus. You know Him and who He is and what He came and what He accomplished. You are in possession of that hope, the hope that we celebrate this night as being born in Bethlehem. That hope is yours because He cameto the world  this night and because of what He accomplished in goingto the cross, the grave and back to heaven again.
And as you go home tonight, you go holding that hope and truth in your heart and life. You’ll see it reflected in the gifts you share and the tree you’ve decorated. In fact, I’ll bet there’s a special ornament on that tree to remind you of what Jesus accomplished in coming to earth. It may be a little nativity ornament or a little cross or a star.
I know I’ve mentioned before that when I worked in Christian retailing for all those years one of the things we used to sell was an ornament that was a spike hung from a red ribbon. It was a reminder that this Baby’s birth… led to this same Man’s death on the cross and resurrection. It’s a good ornament to have. But I’d like to ask you to think about something to help you remember the hope we celebrate tonight of God coming among us, of God breaking into earth and taking on human flesh.
Tonight, we celebrate that Jesus has come and He is now among us. But throughout the rest of the year we tend to forget about truth of His coming and the hope it brings. So, as I’ve done before what I’d like you to think about doing is… as you un-decorate the tree this year don’t pack away all the ornaments. Pick one ornament that reminds you of the birth of Jesus, of God coming to us and breaking into our world. Take that ornament and set it aside as you box up everything else.
Then put that ornament up someplace where you’ll see it everyday. Put it in the living room, or den or kitchen. And let that ornament serve to remind you that God has come near… to you. God has chosen to accomplish what He did so you can live by faith in what He’s done for you. Use that ornament all year long as reminder of the Boy that Joseph and Mary raised, the Boy-King whose birth we rejoice in tonight.
In Jesus name, amen.
Sermon #1061 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO
First Reading                               Isaiah 7:10-14
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.†  12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.â€Â 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans?  Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Epistle Reading                             1 John 4:7-16
7Â Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Â Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9Â This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10Â This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Â Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12Â No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13Â This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14Â And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15Â If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16Â And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
Holy Gospel                             Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.â€Â 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuelâ€- which means “God with usâ€. 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
In 1975 country singer Charlie Rich had been chosen to announce the Country Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards show. The award went to John Denver, who’d not experienced a warm reception at that point in the country music community. In fact, many people detested him and his style of country rock.
When Charlie Rich opened the envelope, rather than simply announce John Denver’s name, Charlie took out a cigarette lighter, set fire to the paper bearing the winner’s name, and walked off stage… He didn’t like who was picked…. He didn’t think that John Denver was worthy of such an honor.
Picking someone to win an award is one thing; imagine God picking someone worthy enough to be the earthly father of His child. That choice comes with a greater consequence than some award show.
According to the gospel reading today God picked ‘a righteous man’ to be the earthly father of God’s one and only son, Jesus Christ. Though the man was a lowly carpenter, that didn’t exclude him from being judged by God to be a righteous man. There’s no honest vocation that excludes a person from a right relationship with God.
Our right relationship with God is basedsolely on faith in God’s Son, Jesus, and His work in coming in true human flesh and blood so He could live the only perfectly righteous life, sacrifice that life in death on the cross, and by so doing win for all flesh of all time; redemption. And yes, this Jesus is also the Son of this righteous carpenter, Joseph.
Since God deemed Joseph ‘a righteous man’ it would seem a good thing to look at what we know of Joseph that can teach us about what this righteous man was like.
Well, we know that he was faithful, he went up to the temple each year at Passover – we learn that later in Matthew when Jesus was left behind in the temple.
And we know that Joseph followed God’s guidance – we see that in his obedience to the messenger of God in verse 24 today which says, “when Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him…â€
He also was patient. When the Lord told him to take the child and His mother and go to Egypt – he went! He went and he waited… He waited till the Lord told him to return after Herod’s death. How long that was we don’t know for sure. It’s likely that the time was many months or even a few years. But during that time, Joseph remained with Mary and Jesus, and did what a righteous man should do; he looked after his young family.
So, in Joseph we see these things lived out; faithfulness, patience, trust, obedience and steadfastness. All these things tell us of the heart of this man. These things did not make Joseph perfect, but they speak of the type of man he was. And in him we have a high example to follow. We tend to take him for granted though. He did his bit and so we just file him away as a good guy and move on.
But that doesn’t do him justice. God’s word calls him righteous. And notice that’s tied to the attitude of his heart and mind. It says… Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly … he had inmind to divorce her quietly. For that to be known to Matthew, our gospel writer, Matthew must’ve had contact with Joseph or Mary. Most scholars feel this information likely comes from Mary.
Can you imagine the talks she and Joseph must have had in their years of raising Jesus together? Joseph surely at some point told her what was ‘in his mind’ to do when he found out she was pregnant and of the dream that had that convinced him to do otherwise.
Imagine also what she had to tell Joseph about being visited by Gabriel and then being pregnant? What that marriage counseling session would’ve been like: I can hardly imagine! But we’re told that a quiet divorce was what Joseph had ‘in mind’ so as not bring Mary into public shame. Which, by the way would also become Joseph’s shame. Again, we see in Joseph here an attitude of the heart reflected in the actions of the man. And that is one of the most important things we can learn from Joseph. That what is in our heart comes out in our actions.
What’s in our hearts this Sunday before Christmas? I know that this week lots of gifts are going to be opened, so let me tell you a story that can help us to remember that what Joseph chose to focus on in his heart is what came out in his actions.
The story is about identical twins. One was a hope-filled optimist. “Everything is coming up roses!†he’d say. The other was a sad and hopeless pessimist. The worried parents of the boys brought them to a psychologist. He suggested to the parents a plan to balance the twins’ personalities. He told them:
“On Christmas, put them in separate rooms to open their gifts. Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford, and give the optimist… a box of manure.â€
The parents followed these instructions and carefully observed the results. When they peeked in on the pessimist, they heard him complaining, “I don’t like the color of this computer. I’ll bet this cell phone is going to break. I don’t like this game. I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this.â€
Tiptoeing across the corridor, the parents peeked in and saw their little optimist gleefully throwing the manure high in the air. He was giggling. “You can’t fool me!†he said, “Where there’s this much… manure, there’s gotta be a pony!â€
The point is, that what you choose as your attitude in life – as your heart’s desire in life – is what will come out in your actions and words. I’m not talking about just choosing a simplistic, Pollyanna out-look on life. It’s not that you close your eyes to reality and plunge ahead heedlessly; No. In fact, it’s the opposite.
You keep your eyes wide open to what’s going on and realize that the gift that God has given us, in the Son of the carpenter, supplies us with the deepest reason for choosing a positive outlook on life. The abiding new-life that’s ours in a right relationship with God comes to us as His Christmas  (and Easter) gift to us and for us. His gift to us of Jesus is the reason we can choose joy.
That’s not to say we must always be joyful or happy. This is a tender time of year and  sometimes the year has brought on hurts and pains that make choosing joy more difficult. So, there’s no requirement to be happy. But there is reason to know we’ve been gifted with joy in Christmas. That’s because it’s the time when all our hurts and sorrow find a balm and a solace by the coming of our heart’s true desire, our Savior, Jesus. Our hearts and our hurts are given the comfort needed in the life, death and resurrection of the infant king, Jesus. His is the gift of peace, grace, and yes, even joy through our tears.
So, we respond to God’s gift of Jesus in how we live our lives. How we live our lives does not determine whether or not God will give us the gift of His Son, He’s already done that!
Nor will our response earn us ‘brownie points’ with God or get us an ‘upgrade’ in heaven: No  But remember, what we do with that gift of God’s grace given to us in His Son, what we do, He will judge.
That isGod’s prerogative alone. He says He will do that, but we, we are not to judge each other or how others respond to God’s grace. Saint Paul reminds us of that in the book of Romans a few chapters later than where we read today. In chapter 14 verses 10-12 he writes, “Why do you pass judgement on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgement seat of God… So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.† We will give an account, TO God, of how we handled the grace of God that has come into the world, and which has come to each of us in our baptism into Jesus, this son of Joseph the carpenter.
Joseph reflected a faithful relationship with God and God named Joseph a righteous man for his faith in God. Joseph was raised to trust that God would keep His word of a promised messiah and Joseph’s hope was in that Word of promise. Again, St Paul reminded us in Romans today in vs 1-2, “the gospel of God – the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to His earthly life was a descendant of David.† God’s promise in Holy Scripture is what Joseph; himself a descendant of David, trusted in, though until the angel came and explained things to him, he didn’t know that he would see God’s promised salvation himself.
And now he was being told that in fact, his own bride was the fulfillment of the words out of our Old Testament lesson today.
Verse 14 says “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.†Joseph was given the word of God in a dream that spelled out his part in fulfilling this prophesy of God. He acted on what God told him. His actions reflected the attitude of trust that was in his heart.
Remember we started out talking about Joseph being called righteous, that he was a man of faith and his life reflected that faith. Would God pick a man whose life did not reflect a relationship with Him as the earthly father for His Son? I think not. We follow Joseph’s example so as to reflect our attitude of trust in God alone. Joseph responded to the word that God gave him. He acted faithfully and in trust. We dothatsamething. We act on the word of promise God has given us.
We all think “God would never pick me like He did Joseph. God wouldn’t pick me because I’m not a righteous person.†And we’re right. But here’s the thing about God’s love and grace…
He does pick you! In Christ God has made you righteous, by Christ’s birth, by His death on the cross and by His resurrection from the grave. Through Him, God has made… and so declares youtobe righteous.
And He does pick you like He did Joseph!! He… picks… you to introduce this world to Jesus. You bring Jesus to this world. You have the same joy of introducing Jesus to the world you live in, just as Joseph did in his.
God, in His Son has made us righteous and gives us the joy of Joseph. The coming of this Child, Jesus, into our lives restores us to a right relationship with God and that gift remains long after this season is over. That Gift changes our attitude to one of joy, because of the gift of faith we’ve been given and the righteousness that’s been made ours… in Joseph’s Son – our savior Jesus Christ. In His name, amen.
Sermon #1060 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO
Old Testament Reading                     Isaiah 7:10-17
10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, 11 “Ask the Lord your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights.†12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask; I will not put the Lord to the test.â€Â 13 Then Isaiah said, “Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of humans? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria.â€
 Epistle                                          Romans 1:1-7
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
 Holy Gospel                                    Matthew 1:18-25
18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.â€Â 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel†(which means “God with usâ€). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.