Author: Sonya

Jan 29, 2017  What rattles your cage?

What rattles your cage? What gets you shook up? I was on a cruise, by myself, a few years back going from Los Angeles through the Panama Canal and up to Ft Lauderdale. I got rattled when the boat was slamming into waves so hard it literally shook the whole boat. I hate that feeling that things are happening around me that I can’t escape from. I nearly got off the boat in Aruba and came home – mainly because I was missing Dana but also because the weather and seas kept getting rougher as the trip went on. That feeling… of being trapped, of being hemmed in, of having wild things happen that were out of my control was and is disturbing.

The idea of ‘walking humbly with God’ from the Old Testament lesson should be one of those things that rattle our cages and is disturbing to us. If you ever read the chronicles of Narnia or saw the first movie, there’s a line in there regarding Aslan, a lion, who’s the Christ figure in the story that goes, ‘it’s not as if he were a tame lion’. God is not tame. Nor is He confined by our knowledge of Him. He is big and wild and He shakes things up.

One of the things God does that shakes up our world is that He revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. He came to us as a total perfect human so we could know Him. But in His coming to us we’re left with the question of, how are we to respond. How do we act in the face of the God of creation being with us? Again, the answer is in the Old Testament lesson. We’re to walk with God – in humbleness – not in pride or arrogant confidence in ourselves.

Humbleness is not our default position. We like to be in control; and humility and humbleness seem to be incompatible with how we like to view ourselves. We like to think we have God contained in the ‘Jesus box’.

Even the bible itself suffers the same fate as its author Jesus Christ.  Since He came into this world in the humble form of a man, many people throughout history have refused to consider Him anything more than a man.  They simply can’t accept Jesus’ divine nature, even though Christ was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

And since the Bible was written by men – in human language – many people throughout history have refused to accept it as anything more than the words of men.  They can’t accept the Bible’s divine nature, even though the Holy Spirit inspired its writers to speak the very words of God.

So, we must tread carefully with our understanding of both the bible and Jesus, its author. Because we can read and comprehend language we can sometimes feel we’ve mastered those parts of the bible that are important to us. And in doing that we think we’ve grasped the whole thing. But in truth, if we read the whole of scripture, it rattles our cages. It upsets our world. That’s because we think it must submit to our understanding.

And that same fallacy is where we get into trouble with God. We like to think that we have cornered the unknowable that is God and have put Him in our pocket. Pocket crosses are nice when they remind us that God is near to us. But that should make us tremble lest we become proud and arrogant in our knowledge.

Listen again to the last phrase in the Old Testament lesson which shakes up our world. It reads: To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

If the idea of leaning to walk humbly with God shakes us up, what about acting justly and loving mercy? These words call us to look at our actions. Is how we live reflective of God’s mercy? Do we act justly toward others? Again, this shakes us up because it puts others ahead of ourselves.

And that is exactly what Christ did in coming to earth He put us ahead of Himself. He acted in mercy toward us. And that allows us to now act justly toward others. In going to the cross to die and rise again to new life in our place He shows us what it is to be merciful – to love mercy.

To love mercy and to act justly is costly. It cost Christ His life. His life was spent – given up totally – on the cross so that we could know; could know that God loves mercy more than any sacrifice we could make. His sacrifice, of Christ for us, shows us mercy.

In the gospel lesson today Jesus gives us the beatitudes. These words are there to help us with what can be our attitude in life. As Jesus lists those who are blessed, that list reflects His attitude toward us.

He died so those attitudes could be ours. Not simply because we have read them and understood them superficially, but so that by His grace alone those attitudes would become part of us. For the most part, the beatitudes are not things that you do, but they should affect everything that you do.

When you read the beatitudes, you see Christ reflected in them. And you see how we as Christians can reflect Christ to the world. As we ponder the beatitudes, they also shake up our world. To bear in mind the humbleness they speak of changes us.

As we bear in mind poorness in spirit, as we bear in mind an attitude of mourning and meekness, as we hunger and thirst for righteousness, as we show mercy and maintain a pure heart, as we seek to be peacemakers and as we find that; because of righteousness we are persecuted, by these attitudes we’ll find ourselves changed and our world shook to our core. Can we do all these things; can these things be truly in our life? Not in our own strength.

It isn’t a matter of what we can do. We live in a ‘can-do’ culture – bursting at the seams with self-confidence. Walking humbly with God, bearing the beatitudes in mind, makes it clear that there’re things we cannot do, problems we cannot solve on our own, forces we cannot control, needs that we cannot meet on our own. This humble ‘can-not’ admission clashes terribly with our world’s ‘can-do’ arrogance.

And that shakes up our world. Only by God’s grace will the beatitudes become our attitudes. Not by our effort but by the effort of Christ to grant them to us. And that He has done: on the cross and in our baptism and through confession and Holy Communion. But for those attitudes to shine through in our life we need to listen to what the Old Testament lesson tells us, to walk humbly with our God.

Let me point out one other thing from the beatitudes. As I read them there is one that really stands out as something to “do”. And if we seek to ‘do’ that one thing it’s like smiling before you pick up the phone and answer it. You know what I mean. Turn to your neighbor right now and say hello. Ok now, look back at me. Now put a smile on your face and turn to your neighbor and say hello. See how doing that affects your tone of voice and your expectations of what comes next?

The same is true with this one beatitude. If we seek to act this way it affects everything else in our world. It’s the one where Jesus says, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Mercy is something that can only be shown. There’s no way for mercy to be known other than by how a person acts and by what they say to others. And mercy cannot be shown without it affecting your world, like putting a smile on your face.

Christ Have Mercy: How to Put Your Faith in Action is a book written by our synod president Matthew Harrison.  In it are his stories of how he has seen God’s mercy in action in his travels around the world on behalf of Lutheran World Relief. From one review I read it says that the book is not as much a list of what to do, but rather how God’s mercy shown through His people can and has changed the world.

It is mercy, God’s mercy in us and through us that changes things, that shakes up the world. The beatitudes are there to help guide us in doing what we read from Micah, to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God. If that doesn’t shake up our world nothing can. After all that’s what Jesus has done. In His name, amen.

Sermon #869 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

Old Testament Reading                                                            Micah 6:1-8

6 Listen to what the Lord says:

“Stand up, plead my case before the mountains;     let the hills hear what you have to say.

2 “Hear, you mountains, the Lord’s accusation;     listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against his people;     he is lodging a charge against Israel.

3 “My people, what have I done to you?     How have I burdened you? Answer me. 4 I brought you up out of Egypt     and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you,     also Aaron and Miriam. 5 My people, remember     what Balak king of Moab plotted     and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal,     that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.”

6 With what shall I come before the Lord     and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,     with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,     with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,     the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.     And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy     and to walk humbly with your God.

Epistle Reading                                                                      1 Corinthians 1:18-31

18 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. 19 For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;     the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

20 Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

Holy Gospel                                                                          Matthew 5:1-12

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn,     for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek,     for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,     for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful,     for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,     for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers,     for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
 

Jan 22, 2017 – The Word of the Cross!

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, 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 experienced.

In today’s 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. His plan was, and still is, that all His creation worship Jesus. He came to fulfill God’s plan of salvation by allowing Himself to die, defeated on the cross, but then to rise victorious to new life again. And in that victory, again from the OT lesson, Jesus is the one Who rejoices when dividing the plunder. 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 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 to us that shows His victory over sin, death and the devil. Only God can break the limits we have under 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 lost 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 everything, their whole life, to one another in 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 buy us back. We’ve then committed ourselves into the truth and 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 over them in that we know that in our commitment to following Christ we commit to the cross of Christ. And that cross then ties us to God’s commitment to us in the resurrection of Jesus as well.

God’s commitment to us – to raise us from the dead just as He raised Christ, is what we are committing to as well. We place our whole life in God’s hands – we trust Him to keep His promise of eternal life and 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 live in the light of the gospel. 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. 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.

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 forgets them all. We go forward together, Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel. In Jesus name, amen.

Sermon #868 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 Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

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.

18 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.”

17^ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

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.

21 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, 22^ and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

23^ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 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. 25^ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

 

Jan 15, 2017 – Happiness!

Today is the second Sunday of the epiphany season and Life Sunday. To have an epiphany, in the general sense, is like having a fresh awareness, a revelation, of something that you thought you knew or understood. I read an article about a subject most people like to think they have a good understanding of, happiness, but they also find that it’s elusive. And when I read this article, on the idea of happiness, it was like a little epiphany. What is it that people want? What did our constitutional forefathers say we had a right to pursue… happiness? That’s nice, but what is it that we are to pursue, how do we attain happiness?

According to this article, happiness derives from meaningfulness. Your activities – work or pleasure – when they have meaning or significance to a person, that is when most people find they are happiest. Doing something, doing anything, as long as it has meaning, brings about a sense of happiness or satisfaction. It’s like petting your cat or dog. That has meaning because you can sense that there’s something significant in it for them. Happiness doesn’t come from a lack of doing or from having nothing to do, but happiness comes, according to, this article, from being engaged; being engaged in something meaningful.

That revelation, that epiphany, is important for us today. In the Old Testament and gospel lessons we see that God knows this is true about His people. And He has given meaning to the work of His people.

In the Old Testament lesson, you see a brilliant message of meaning. Listen again to verse 6 it says, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus’ work had meaning in this world because He was sent for all people to see that He is chosen by God to reveal God’s goodness and mercy, love and grace in this world. And how does God do that? How does God reveal that Jesus is His servant on earth so that the earth recognizes Him as that? God does it through Jesus’ baptism and Jesus’ work.

In the gospel lesson today, that follows Jesus’ baptism, we hear John declare to the world the truth that reveals Jesus as the holy sacrifice for sin in verse 29, “When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’” Jesus was shown, through His baptism, as the sacrificial Lamb of God.

Jesus is the Servant, according to the Old Testament lesson, sent from God to restore the tribes of Israel and, significantly for us, to be the light of salvation for the gentiles so that the whole earth may know of God’s love.

And through baptism we have the same meaning applied to us; that is, God makes us His servants also. We too share in the calling of Jesus Christ from the Old Testament lesson today to be a light in this world revealing the salvation of God that He desires for all people – for every single person on this planet – to know and rejoice in. That salvation comes through the righteousness of Jesus alone.

We are not the Lamb of God that John declared, but we are made God’s servants through Jesus’ sacrificial work and His victory. That was His meaningful work done in our place. His victory becomes ours, as we spoke of last week, in our baptism and so also does His message. And that, that message of God’s salvation for the world is what gives us meaning and significance in everything that we do.

God’s love for this world is so simple. And yet it’s so upsetting to us that it is so simple. We think it should be harder than it is. In fact, we want it to be harder so that we think we’ve earned something. The truth that you and I know is that the only thing we’ve earned is… God’s wrath. We wanted significance, but we settled for sin.

And on this Life Sunday it’s easy to see how real sin is in our world. God alone is the creator of life and yet we have chosen to put ourselves in the place of God and decide we have the right to take life away. Whether through abortion, euthanasia or other means we’ve put ourselves in place of deciding that we humans can take the right unto ourselves to take a life. We have violated what God has said was good. That was His judgment about His creation – about life.

We have, at least in this country, put the pursuit of individual ‘happiness’ above the right to life. Yes, happiness comes from doing things of significance. But in the face of letting personal pleasure or choice come before God’s gift of life, how can we not see that our world is sick with sin?

After the suicide of Adolf Hitler, two military chaplains were inspecting Hitler’s apartment beneath a bunker. On the wall was a larger-than-life-size portrait of Hitler. Among a few personal belongings was found a necklace containing a very small head of Christ. Said one chaplain to the other, “This is the result in the world when man becomes big and God becomes small.”

When Hitler made his choices, the world condemned him. Today, when individuals make such a choice, it’s protected as a so-called ‘right’. The handout in your bulletins speaks to the death-numbers such a ‘right’ has led to.

It would be easy to stop here and let us all feel sad or angry and resolved to do something. Do Anything! And then after a while the passion would fade and we’d let our anger or sadness subside. It’s also tempting for me to take what I started out talking about to brow beat you by saying, ‘See – if you want to be happy, here’s something of significance you can do – go work for the pro-life movement.’ And if I did that I might feel a bit better. But again, only for a while. However, neither of those things speaks to what God has done for us in reminding us this Sunday that life is His creation and that we’re meant to guard it and protect it.

Only God, in His mercy, comes to us and gives us significance. Only by faith and through baptism do we have true significance.

God comes to us and He makes us His own. By the gift of Jesus’ righteousness applied to a person in baptism, we’re changed and all that we do, every single thing is now given a sense of meaning and purpose far beyond our desires.

Remember from last week, that the battle has been won. Through Jesus’ holy innocent death on the cross and by the power of His resurrection He defeated the powers of hell. That victory is made our victory over sin, over death and the devil.

And that message is what we’re given to give to others. We’re to point to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, all sin even the sin seen in the numbers on the handout. We take His message of forgiveness and freedom, of peace, reconciliation and true significance – true happiness as it comes from the gospel lesson today.

35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”  37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus… 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Because of what John had said of Jesus, Andrew began to follow Jesus. And what was the first thing Andrew did? He went and told his brother Simon Peter. That going and telling was meaningful activity, and I believe it would have given him happiness as we spoke of earlier. In what Andrew did, we see what God wanted and wants still today. For the word about His servant, Jesus, to be spread to others. For the world to know, as He said in the Old Testament lesson, for the world to know that God’s salvation is for everyone.

There is no one you can talk to who is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness. The peace and reconciliation that comes through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ is for every single person. What is we’re about here at Zion Lutheran Church? – that’s right Hearing, Sharing and Living the Gospel.

That Gospel is the significant thing revealed to us in epiphany. We’re given that same significance in our lives that Andrew had – to tell others that, through the Messiah, the forgiveness and love of God has come to each person in the whole world. In the life and the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

Sermon #867 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

Old Testament Reading                                                       Isaiah 49:1-7 49 Listen to me, you islands;     hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the Lord called me;     from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. 2^ He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,     in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow     and concealed me in his quiver. 3^ He said to me, “You are my servant,     Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.” 4^ But I said, “I have labored in vain;     I have spent my strength for nothing at all. Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,     and my reward is with my God.” 5^ And now the Lord says—     he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him     and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord     and my God has been my strength— 6 he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant     to restore the tribes of Jacob     and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,     that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 7 This is what the Lord says—     the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel— to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,     to the servant of rulers:

“Kings will see you and stand up,     princes will see and bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful,     the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

 Epistle Reading                                                                           1 Corinthians 1:1-9

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5^ For in him you have been enriched in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge— 6 God thus confirming our testimony about Christ among you. 7^ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 Holy Gospel                                                                                           John 1:29-42a

29^ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31^ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”

32^ Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33^ And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34^ I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”

35^ The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”

37^ When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38^ Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39^ “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41^ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

 

Jan 14, 2017 – Betty Blasingame

Dear Linda & Robert, Denise & Bob and all the gathered family and friends of Betty, grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I know you have a huge store of memories of Betty to hold onto. But remember, among those memories, to hold onto the joy of the salvation that she held onto. Though I will miss seeing her and having her greet me here after services with her warmth and brightness, my task this afternoon isn’t to tell stories or anecdotes of Betty’s life. That’s been your job the last several days and will continue to be. And Bob, her son-in-law will share a bit in a eulogy before the closing hymn

But, my task right now is to remind you of Betty’s Savior; the One who died for her, the One who rescued her, and the One who promises her – and each of us this day – life eternal, 8^th day life. As we sang a few moments ago, “Come Christian follow, where our Captain trod…” that’s what she did. She followed Jesus Christ, trusting fully in Him and His salvation.

Today’s a day of deep feelings and mixed feelings. It’s certainly a day unlike any other. Yes, we rejoice that Betty’s no longer bound by illness or debilitation. We’re glad for the freedom and life and joy that she now possesses in the presence of her Lord Jesus Christ. And we’re happy that she has no pain, confusion, or sorrow, she lacks nothing and has all that the Lord promised to those who trust in Him as she did. After all, as we read in the epistle lesson, we are not “ignorant about those who fall asleep, or (to) grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” We do have hope… but we still grieve.

It’s a time to mourn as Ecclesiastes reminded us. We rightly mourn over the loss of Betty’s presence with us. Death, as you’ve heard me say before, isn’t what we’re created for and it interrupts God’s design for us. We’re made for life, for love and for relationship. And death is an unwelcome intruder into the relationships we’ve been created for. To have her taken away in death, which, though now it’s been transformed into a doorway in Christ granting her joy in the Lord; death still has closed the door to our joy with her on earth with us.

So today is a day of mixed feelings for us. Today we remember the full and generous life in Christ that Betty lived and the life she was glad to share with others. She loved her Lord and trusted in Him alone. She trusted Him for her salvation, her peace, and her wholeness. She understood what Jesus said in the gospel lesson today, where Jesus speaks of going to prepare a home for His followers to come to.

That lesson tells us that Jesus has gone ahead of His followers to heaven to make the preparations for them needed there. A bridegroom, in Jesus day, in preparation for his bride, would add rooms onto his own father’s house. Those rooms would form the home that the new husband would bring his bride too, in His father’s house. That was part of the marriage preparation that was the man’s responsibility.

In the gospel lesson today Jesus says that He is going to His Father’s house where there are many rooms to – prepare a place for His followers. Those listening to Jesus say these words for the first time, they all knew the marriage tradition of the day and would have instinctively caught onto what He meant. Jesus has gone ahead to heaven to make a new home with His Father for all His followers: a home where we would be welcome when the Father calls us home, just as He’s called Betty.  Because of Jesus, no one can snatch us out of our heavenly Father’s hand the Lord tells us today.

Though Betty is safely at home in Jesus, we still live in a world that tries to grab us away from the Lord. We see a world of hurt, of sorrow and suffering, brought on by our sin. Betty understood this. She understood the sorrow of suffering. But she also knew, and trusted in what Jesus made clear to Thomas in the gospel lesson; that Jesus alone is the way, the truth and… the life. And so now, she has gone beyond faith. She now enjoys what her hope longed for, life in the presence of Christ her Lord. She now possesses that and no longer needs faith or hope.

She knew that by His suffering on the cross Jesus takes away all our suffering; and by His resurrection, He makes for us the way home… home to our Heavenly Father, where Jesus is and has prepared for us to join Him there. By His word of promise He will take us with Him, where He’s taken Betty, and where we’re forever set free from the power of sin, Satan, suffering and death.

Having heard the gospel proclaimed to her throughout her life, Betty knew God’s word and that the promises of Christ were hers by grace through faith alone. Again as we read in the gospel lesson, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” That’s what Betty did here on earth; she trusted in Jesus and because of that, her earthly heart was never troubled about where she would spend eternity.

Through her baptism she received the Holy Spirit and lived her life reflecting the love and generosity of her Savior. And her confirmation verse, Heb 13:5, Be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, which in addition to being a favorite, gave her a guide she used all her life. She understood that God, by sending His Holy Spirit to us, had given each of us hearts full with the love of the Lord, from which we are to share with others that same love of Jesus.

She knew and held close the words of her Savior. Jesus’ words gave her hope and joy in knowing she would be home with Him, in His Father’s heavenly mansion. Again, as we sang, she followed Jesus knowing that He is the way, the truth and the life; for all who trust in Him – as she did. In Jesus precious name, we pray, amen.

Sermon #866 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

Reading from 1^ST THESSALONIANS  4:13-18

Reader:       13 Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.  15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.  18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

Reading from Ecclesiastes 3:1-5

Reader:  3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

^2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; ^3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ^4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ^5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

Readings from the Gospel of John 10:27-29, 14: 1-6

Reader:  27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.  29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  30 I and the Father are one.” … “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.  2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.  3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jan 8, 2016 – Baptism is a battle for Life

Baptism is a battle for Life; and Baptism is a battle for life. The epistle lesson from Romans today sparks this one idea with two emphases. Baptism is a battle for life; and Baptism is a battle for life.

A southern minister was about to baptize a very devout new covert in a river.  The minister said to the convert, “Would you like someone to hold your wallet while I baptize you so that it doesn’t get wet?”  The man answered: “No, please baptize all of me, especially my wallet!”

God calls us into His family, through His Word and through the waters of baptism. And His Holy Spirit consecrates every part of our lives for His use, including our wallet… and our phone and our calendar. He consecrates the whole of our life!

That is, it isn’t just parts and sections of our life that the Holy Spirit consecrates in baptism; it’s a change of life itself. I heard one pastor talk about how he explains to parents to not be concerned if a baby cries during baptism. He said, ‘of course they’re going to cry, they’re getting the hell washed out of them!’

That’s what the epistle lesson talks about today in verses 4-7; “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. ⁵ If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be…  done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

In baptism we’re joined to Christ in His death. In fact the Greek word in verse 4 that says ‘buried with Him’ is related to the word for tomb. So, when we’re baptized, we’re entombed with Christ. When someone is entombed they are sealed into death. And that’s what happens to the old man, the rebellious nature within us, at baptism. This is a form of death that is active, not passive.

It didn’t just happen to us; our old nature is killed with Christ. That death is an active death not a passive thing. Luther talks of it as drowning the old man. So again, when a baby cries at baptism, that’s the reaction of the old man, he doesn’t want to die. But in Christ our death to sin is sealed; sealed away in His grave. When Jesus was crucified for us, God accounted His death as our death. And in our baptism His death kills the old man in us who’s then entombed forever.

When someone is baptized, think of it the same way you would  think of washing a cup. You ‘bury’ the cup in the water and when you bring it out, the dirt is left behind. The dirt is entombed in that water. That’s what’s happened to us and for us in our baptism. The old nature, the sinful nature, the nature that wants to justify itself by the law, has been sealed in the tomb with Christ. When you bury someone, you put them in a box and seal that box up in the grave.

Sin has been buried with Christ and boxed up and put in the tomb. And out of that particular tomb has come… Jesus. Jesus has risen up from the grave, alive and triumphant over all sin – victorious over sin, over death, and over the devil. Remember what we say at Easter, Christ is risen (He is risen indeed.) That new Easter life is what He gives each person in the waters of baptism. Again, in the lesson today St Paul says, in verse 8 now if we died with Christ we believe that we will also live with Him.

Baptism is a battle for life, for our new life. At the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, the site of the battle between the army of Mexico and a handful of Texans, inscribed on the walls are these words: “The blood of heroes has stained me; therefore let the stones of the Alamo speak, that their immolation in blood be not forgotten.”

For us, the battle with sin was won by the blood of Christ, Who is the cornerstone of our faith. And His victory is made our victory in baptism. We are now the stones that speak His victory. Baptism grants us the victory of new life in Christ. It brings the triumph of Christ’s cross to us and His righteousness is now poured out in the water of baptism on our heads and our bodies. Remember, baptism is a battle for life.

In the water of baptism we’ve been released from the bondage that sin had held us in. And we’ve been released from the guilt of breaking the law that condemns us before God so that we now live life in a new way, in the way of the Holy Spirit. We have new life in the Holy Spirit Who is granted to us in our baptism.

Jesus’ own baptism that we read about in the gospel lesson helps us to see the truth of that. When He was baptized we’re told the Holy Spirit came and alighted on Him like a dove. That was for our benefit. It was a living demonstration of what has been promised to us. Of course the Holy Spirit was with Jesus throughout all His life. But this visible display of the Holy Spirit coming on Jesus at His baptism is so we would understand that that’s also what happens for us. This new life in the Holy Spirit is ours for life.

And for that reason baptism is also a battle for life. All our life long, all our life on this earth we will engage the enemy who wages war against us because we have the Holy Spirit living in us. The enemy hates life because the enemy is sin and death and the devil. All life-long we will be attacked because we are loved by God and have life, eighth day – eternal life, in His Spirit living in us.

One writer has said it well, “the battle with the sin in our life is not completed in baptism… but the decisive victory has been won. The sin is dethroned, the new man, (our new life in Christ) has taken the place of the old man in us.”

The crucifixion of our old self by Jesus’ death on the cross, ends our forced service to sin. That crucifixion applies to us in our baptism and sets us free to live a life of free service to God. We’ve been released from our slavery to sin as St Paul reminded us in verse  6 today. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

When you shower or bathe every day – and you’re under the water, pause and think about the water that was poured on you in your baptism. The freedom that that water gave you is yours each day. You can take time, with water covering you, and remember you’re free from the bondage to sin. You can choose how you want your day to go. You can choose to please God in the events in your day. That freedom to want to please God is yours through your baptism, all life long.

Think about this also. Before you get up in the morning, before your feet hit the floor, make the sign of the cross and just say to yourself, I’ve been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Let that reminder, of the mark of the cross of Christ that was put on you in your baptism, also remind you of what we talked about today; that His Holy Spirit consecrates every part of our lives for His use, including our wallet, our phone and our calendar.

Remember –

you are free… of the old man,

you are filled… with the Holy Spirit,

you have been released… from being a slave to sin

and you can honestly desire to…. live for God.

Remember that though you go into the day and you will battle sin, death and the devil,

the decisive victory over sin… has been won,

the old man… is drowned

and sin has been… entombed with Christ.

But if making the sign of the cross reminds you of nothing else, remember as Paul said today, that if we died with Christ we believe that we will also live with Him.

Baptism is a battle for life and it is a battle for life, each day, every day, now and forever Jesus’ victory is yours. In His name, amen.

Sermon #865 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

Epiphany Reading                                                                  Matthew 2:1-12

1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,               are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;           for out of you will come a ruler                who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”  9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Old Testament Reading                       Isaiah 42:1-9

42 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.  2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.  In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4  he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

5 This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: 6 “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, 7^ to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 8 “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. 9^ See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.

Epistle Reading                                                                                   Romans 6:1-11

6 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2^ By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3^ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5^ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7^ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8^ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10^ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Holy Gospel                                                                                     Matthew 3:13-17

13^ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14^ But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15^ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

16^ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17^ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

 

Jan 1, 2017 Circumcision and Naming of Jesus New Year’s Day

Happy New Year! Gift giving time, it seems, has come and gone, but (!) there’s yet one more gift left for us on this New Year’s Day. It’s the gift of naming Jesus on the day of His circumcision. And this gift of naming Jesus, along with His circumcision, is important for you, for me and everyone we can tell it to. His Name is the gift to us that never ends and never ceases to deliver what it promises. The name of Jesus delivers salvation. Listen again to the gospel lesson On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

As we’ve seen this Christmas season, Jesus came to earth in a poor, lowly, and humble setting. Yet He was the King of Glory. He came to earth in the form of an infant human child who smelled like the very human child that was He. He wriggled and giggled and cooed as any baby does. Yet also, at the same time, His divine nature and the truth of His being the immortal God was covered up in the form of that human flesh. We call this the ‘incarnation’. The word literally means, to put on, or, to wrap around with, flesh. So, Jesus wrapped His God-ness in human form, so we could know Him. And know that in His incarnation is how the work of His gift to us, of salvation in Jesus name, came to this earth.

When Queen Victoria stayed at Balmoral Castle she sometimes enjoyed a walk in the district secretly dressed as a local. On one occasion she slipped out of the castle, accompanied only by her servant John Brown. Along the road she came on a flock of sheep being driven by a boy, who shouted, “Keep out of the way, stupid old woman!” The Queen smiled, but said nothing, and when her servant came along he informed the boy that she was the Queen. “Right… well,” said the boy, “then she should dress like a queen.” We also didn’t recognize Jesus because He came dressed, not like the King of Glory and Son of God that He is, but He came as a ‘local’ in our common, humble, human form.

Jesus did this for you. Today, the 8th day after the celebration of His birth in human nature, we celebrate His receiving, at His circumcision, the name the angel told Mary and Joseph to name Him. I know it makes people squeamish to think about circumcision, however it’s what God gave as the sign of His first covenant with His people. And it’s important for us who are children of the new covenant in Christ to learn from the old covenant.

Circumcision was done because it was part of the law. It was the beginning of the law for each male child, and it was needed in order for Jesus to grow up as a righteous Jewish boy. His circumcision was done to fulfill all righteousness by the Only Son of God. And it was the very first shedding of blood by Jesus to fulfill completely the righteousness of the law that He and we are born under. This shedding of blood, in His circumcision, was the first He did. And it marks the holy path His life would take to His final shedding of blood on the cross. These bloody events, circumcision and cross, are the bookends to Jesus’ work on earth.

At only 8 days old Jesus has someone pierce His skin to ensure that He’s part of the old covenant of Israel as God commanded. And later His skin again is pierced on the cross by human hands to ensure that you and I become part of the new covenant that’s based in His righteousness alone. And the guarantee of that for us happens on the 8^th day as well. Remember that it’s on the 8^th day of the week that Jesus rose victorious from the grave. That 8^th day is the eternal day. Listen to a bit of Luther about how the 8^th day is so important both for the circumcision of Jesus and His resurrection for our salvation.

The eighth day signifies the future life; for Christ rested in the grave on the Sabbath, that is, during the entire seventh day, but rose again on the day which follows… the eighth day… and after it no other day is counted. For through His death Christ brought to a close the weeks of time and on the eighth day entered into a different kind of life, in which days are no longer counted but there is one eternal day.

This has been thought out wisely, learnedly, and piously, namely, that the eighth day is the eternal day. For the risen Christ is no longer subject to days, months, weeks, or any number of days; He is in a new and eternal life … In that eternal life the true circumcision will be carried out for us all. At that time not only the foreskin of the heart will be circumcised – which happens in this life for us through faith – but the entire flesh… will be cleansed of all depravity, ignorance, lust, sin, and filth. So says Luther.

So the 8^th day circumcision and naming of Jesus has eternal significance for you and me. And it has significance in showing us the Christ was indeed fully human, that He was God in-carnate. Being wrapped in human flesh, then, He is given a human name, Jesus.

The name given by the angel was used because God wanted that name to deliver the gift of what it promises. The name Jesus is a Greek translation of the Hebrew name, Joshua. And it means “Yahweh saves.” Yahweh is the Old Testament name for the Lord God Almighty. And like the Joshua of the Old Testament, Jesus was to take his people in victory into the Promised Land of life eternal with our loving God.

Jesus fulfills the promise of His name completely, since He Himself is “the Lord who saves.” The gift of the name, “Jesus”, without the action to back it up would have been incomplete. Jesus’ work of salvation didn’t start at His baptism in the Jordan River, as some people might think. Jesus’ work of bringing about our salvation began with His incarnation in the womb of Mary.

His work began with taking on the humble form of an infant and growing through life as we all do. By the divine God becoming enfolded in our flesh He could then be known by us and He could experience temptation and struggles as we experience them.

Had Jesus not been circumcised on this day, the 8^th day according to the law, nothing else would have mattered; because He would not have fulfilled the law in our flesh. But until the work, begun in the womb of Mary, was complete on the cross and the coming out of the womb of the empty tomb on Easter morning was done, we were still in our sins. Until that saving work was complete, we were without the righteousness of Christ clothing us as Paul tells in the epistle lesson today. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

The name of Jesus Christ, being put on us in our baptisms, fulfills the promise of God to Mary and Joseph through the angel Gabriel, that in the name of Jesus we are saved. It’s in that name we’re baptized and it’s in the name Jesus we find our eternal 8^th day. It’s the glory of that Name that takes away all darkness, fear and doubt for our today and for the new year. It’s the name of Jesus by which we are saved unto eternal life.

We’ve been given the light of Jesus glory in His name and nothing will remove it from us. That light shines in us and it also shines through us. An artist once did a picture of a winter twilight scene. The trees he painted as heavily laden with snow, and a dreary, dark house, lonely and desolate in the midst of a storm. It was a sad picture. Then, with a few small quick strokes of yellow paint, he put light in a few windows. The effect was magical. The entire scene was transformed into a vision of comfort and cheer. The name of Jesus is just such a light in our dark world.

Like that house in the painting, we’ve been filled by Jesus light, with His name, so that we can know that the living God of heaven knows us and loves us. By the light of the name of Jesus, we’re given the assurance that His righteousness is ours by His grace through faith alone. His name, put on us, changes our identity. We’re now ones who’ve been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. And the gift of His name on us assures us that we belong to the Father above. As we begin the New Year, resolve to rest yourself in that truth.

Remember I said we could learn from the old covenant in order to understand the new?  A look back at the Old Testament lesson today gives us a familiar way to understand what it means to have the name of Jesus put on us. We’ve gained, through His obedience to the old covenant, the blessings of the new covenant. And yet in that old covenant we learn what it is that is delivered to us through the shedding of Christ’s blood – it is peace with God. And that peace is put on us through the words that God commanded Aaron to speak to the people and so to put the name of God on them and bless them. These are the familiar words we hear most every Sunday. Listen again to these words and the importance that God attaches to them, The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them, The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

And so the blessing of the Lord comes to us through Jesus, wrapped in our flesh so we could be wrapped in His name, and by His work – and through that Name – we’ve been given the gift of eternal salvation! There is no better gift on this 8^th day, by which we start our New Year! In Jesus name, amen!

Sermon #864 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

First Reading                                                                   Numbers 6:22-27

22 The Lord said to Moses, 23^ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

24^ ‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 ^ the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’

27^ “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Epistle Reading                                                                     Galatians 3:23-29

23^ Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26^ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

27^ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29^ If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Holy Gospel                                                                                        Luke 2:21

21^ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

 

 

Dec 25, 2016 – Christmas brings the Incarnation

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, just as you and I are.

Remember that during advent we’ve been preparing to remember the 1^st coming of 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 that His living Word to us, Jesus Christ, was incarnated, that He was born for the sake of the world.

Christ was not born for some abstract 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, And the word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. That phrase, ‘dwelling among us’ is what it means for Christ to be born. Christ didn’t come in the abstract, He came in the flesh so the gospel of John reminds us. And it’s only by His incarnation, His coming in the flesh that He could do for you and I 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 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 for all 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, 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 cannot see 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 all go 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 that up 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 a 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 God is for us, that God knows our needs and comes in the flesh of Jesus to touch us and meet our needs. Let me close by giving you an idea of what it means for us that Christ is born for you and me, by telling you the story of a traveler in Finland.

He’d spent a day out amid wondrous scenery – towering mountains, flowing rivers, and mighty forests of trees – but the traveler returned home strangely unhappy.

In the living room of the house where he was staying were 3 canaries in a cage. When he entered the house, the birds became restless, chirping loudly and flitting from perch to perch. He went over and spoke to them, and they became quiet and contented.

Also in the house was a small dog, whining. When the traveler sat down the dog came and pawed at his knee and there was a look on his face that said, “Are you never going to notice me?”  The man spoke to the dog and patted him, and the dog too was content. “Then,” says the man, “I knew why all that day I myself had been restless. I’d seen God in nature, but I wanted something more. I wanted to be noticed. I wanted a word… a touch.”

That’s what the Incarnation means. The peace of God comes into our human nature and touches us with an intimacy that’s not within the power of sky, river or mountain to convey. Jesus brings to us the intimacy of knowing we are known by the God of all creation in this tiny divine and human baby.

Christmas is this baby – is the Word of God to us. Christmas is God telling us that He is paying attention to us, noticing us and most significantly 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 #863 Rev. Thomas A. Rhodes, Pastor – Zion Lutheran Church, Bolivar, MO

First Reading                                                                                          Isaiah 52:7-10

7How 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.

Epistle                                                                                                    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

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3^ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4^ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5^ 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.

Dec 24, 2016 – Christmas Eve – Good Parents.

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 talking to his friends about ‘justification by grace through faith alone’. I’m quite sure he didn’t do that.

And what about Billy Graham? As a child I doubt he played with radio microphones, preaching to his neighborhood friends, and saying things like ‘I see that hand and that hand’.

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 a 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, Mary and Joseph, as children, 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 can only imagine that God used their parents to teach them how to be good parents since God would give the job to Mary and Joseph to parent His only child while on earth.

(By the way, some people talk about surrogate parenting as though it were a new thing, its not. Surrogate parents were God’s invention! That’s what Mary and Joseph were!) But, getting back to the point.

I’m sure that the little girl, Mary, who would grow to 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 is a chapter called “25 questions for Mary”. Let me share with you a few of my favorites. 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: 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 in His coming and 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. You are 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 came to us and because of what He accomplished from the cross and the grave.

And as you go home tonight, you go holding that hope 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.

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 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 this truth 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, whose birth we rejoice in tonight.

In Jesus name, amen.

Sermon #862 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.”  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                                                                                       1 John 4:7-16

7^ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8^ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9^ 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. 10^ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11^ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12^ No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14^ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 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.”  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 us”.  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.

Dec 18, 2016 – A Righteous Man

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 His only son, Jesus Christ. Though he 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 relationship with God is based on faith in God’s Son, who’s 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.

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…”

We know he was also a steadfast man. He did not desert Mary as many men would have in the situation of finding his fiancé pregnant.

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. He is called 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 in mind to divorce her quietly. For that to be known to Matthew, today’s gospel writer, Matthew must have either 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 she was pregnant and of that dream that he had that convinced him 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. 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 next 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 action.

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.”

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 calculator is going to break. I don’t like this game. I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this.”

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!”

The point is, that what you choose as your attitude 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. 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 is 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.

We respond to God’s gift in how we live our lives. And what we do with that gift will be judged. That is God’s prerogative alone. 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 that we read from earlier. He writes in chapter; 14 verses 10-12, “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 of how we handled the grace of God that has come into the world, and that 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. Joseph was raised to trust that God would keep His word of a promised messiah and Joseph’s hope was in that Word. Though until the angel came and explained things, 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 do that same thing. 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 you to be 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 world.

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 righteousness that’s been made ours… in Joseph’s Son – our savior Jesus Christ.

Sermon #861 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.”  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.”

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.”  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 us”).  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.

Dec 18, 2016 – A Righteous Man

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 His only son, Jesus Christ. Though he 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 relationship with God is based on faith in God’s Son, who’s 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.

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…”

We know he was also a steadfast man. He did not desert Mary as many men would have in the situation of finding his fiancé pregnant.

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. He is called 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 in mind to divorce her quietly. For that to be known to Matthew, today’s gospel writer, Matthew must have either 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 she was pregnant and of that dream that he had that convinced him 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. 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 next 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 action.

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.”

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 calculator is going to break. I don’t like this game. I know someone who’s got a bigger toy car than this.”

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!”

The point is, that what you choose as your attitude 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. 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 is 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.

We respond to God’s gift in how we live our lives. And what we do with that gift will be judged. That is God’s prerogative alone. 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 that we read from earlier. He writes in chapter; 14 verses 10-12, “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 of how we handled the grace of God that has come into the world, and that 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. Joseph was raised to trust that God would keep His word of a promised messiah and Joseph’s hope was in that Word. Though until the angel came and explained things, 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 do that same thing. 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 you to be 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 world.

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 righteousness that’s been made ours… in Joseph’s Son – our savior Jesus Christ.

Sermon #861 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.”  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.” 

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.”  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 us”).  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.