Name of Jesus Eve

You see that no one of you be captured through the philosophy and purposeless deception according to what is handed down of mankind, according to the elements of the world, and not according to Christ; because in Him inhabited all the fullness of deity, bodily, and you are, in Him, made full; Who is the head of all rule and authority. In which also you are circumcised in a handless circumcision in the discarding of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of the Christ, having been buried in Him in the Baptism, in which also you were raised up through the faith of the working of God, the One Who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in the sins and in the uncircumcision of your heart, He made you alive together with Him, having graciously forgiven in us all sins.         

  

The world will tell you that you are not good enough. Just like everything advertised is “new & improved”, the philosophy of this age is that you too must strive to be all you can be. But you never get there. You will never be complete. You will never be your full self. You will never be perfect. Yet this world’s mantra is “strive, struggle, and strain” every waking moment of the day until you get there. But you never will. That’s the rub. It’s an empty promise this world gives. It’s just plain deception.

  

But the message of Christ Jesus is that He has been circumcised for you! “Huh?” you might respond. That’s right, Jesus is circumcised for you, so that you may be made full. Without him, you remain unfulfilled, imperfect, incomplete, working so hard to obtain that which you can never achieve. But in the circumcision of the Christ, you are made to be what God desires. Your failures are no more. They are replaced with the successes of your God, Who alone does the mighty works to make you full!

  

Now, we should back-track a bit. Jesus is circumcised on the 8th day of his young life as your Savior. He enters that day into a covenant of works, one in which you fail miserably. This covenant was a simple one. God promised to be Israel’s God, and they promised to be His people. God did His job perfectly. The people of Israel, however, did not. They broke all of God’s commandments, and they acted like anything but God’s Own people. So have you. You have violated God’s laws time and again.

  

But not Jesus. He entered into this covenant-agreement of circumcision with every intention of keeping God’s commandments perfectly. And He did! Jesus was holy, just as God the Father is holy, because Jesus is God too. In Him all the fulness of god-ness dwelt in His body. So He could accomplish what nobody before or since could. Jesus was obedient to all of God’s laws, without fail, earning by His perfect works the prize above all prizes–eternal life in the paradise of heaven above.

  

But Jesus wasn’t selfish. He did not want to keep this prize all to Himself. In fact, He loved you so much that He was willing to give up that gift of everlasting life, and instead, take death, the death you deserved because of your sin, as His very Own. Your body of sinful flesh Jesus took upon Himself at the cross. Your deadly sin, and uncircumcised heart--Jesus took from you. All your sins He took into His body, and then buried them forevermore in the tomb. Your sins are graciously forgiven in Jesus.

  

So now His circumcision into all of this law-keeping yet death-receiving becomes your own circumcision too. You are circumcised into Jesus at your baptism. Just as folks joined God’s people Israel through the sacrament of circumcision, so too have you joined the Church of Christ Jesus by your baptism. God has joined you to Jesus in your baptism, connecting you to His death, burial, and resurrection! You are made alive together with Jesus. Your baptism is into the circumcision of Christ!

  

So when you hear “circumcision” of Jesus, think “that’s my baptism!”. For baptism is a circumcision of sorts, though without the use of human hands. Instead of a person cutting off a small piece of flesh, God makes your baptism a circumcision of your whole sinful flesh! God takes away all the sinfulness of your body of flesh and discards it into the body of Jesus at the cross.  God cuts off of you all of your sinful flesh at your baptism, and nails it to Jesus on the tree, where He dies your death in your place .   

Jesus does all of this for you for your “fullness”. Not some sort of human potential you must work hard to realize someday. No, the fullness God desires for you He Himself works to accomplish in Christ Jesus. Just as the “fullness” of the God-head inhabited Jesus’ human body, so to does Jesus give you the fullness which you really need. This fullness is found in that same body of Jesus, which He gives to you to eat this day for the forgiveness of your sins; the only fullness you’ll ever need.

Amen.

Advent 4 Hebrew 10:5-10 "What can you do in the Church to help save souls?"

Then, having come into the world, He says, "sacrificial-offerings and presented-offerings You do not want, yet a body You have made complete to me. With complete-burnt-offerings and (those) concerning sin, You are not pleased."

 Then I said, "Look, I have come. In a scroll of a book it is written concerning Me, The accomplishment, God, of Your will." 

Having said, above, that sacrificial-offerings and presented-offerings and complete-burnt-offerings and (those) concerning sin You do not want nor are You pleased, (those according to the Law to be sacrificial-offerings); then He said, "Look, I have come to do Your will." He takes away the first so that the second one stands. In which desire we are made holy by the delivering over of the body of Christ, once and for all. 

The tasks of a priest seemed endless back in the Old Testament. All day long they would stand on their feet to offer five different types of sacrifices for the people regularly. "Fellowship", "Grain", "Burnt" and "Sin" offerings are all mentioned here in our text. In addition to these four, the Levites also had to offer "Guilt" offerings when people sinned against God, to forgive them and atone for their sin.

Year after year, sin after sin, folks kept bringing fruits of their farms as sacrifices to God. The cycle seemed endless. But all these sacrifices weren't what the Lord wanted. They pointed forward to the "once and for all" sacrifice of the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. Psalm 40 reveals that the Father would give the Son a *body* to offer up, a sacrifice was God's will, pleasing to Him.

No wonder not-yet-born John literally skipped for joy in his mother's womb, since His Savior was only one womb away! The prophecy of God taking a body for sacrifice had not been fulfilled! What was written in that scroll of holy scripture was all about what Jesus had come into this earth to accomplish. God's Word was all about what God's Son would come down from heaven to earth to do–His heavenly Father's will. "Look–I've come to do Your will" He says. It is the only will you need.

Yet you pray, "Thy will be done." But sadly you may pray this thinking it is all about you. You think, "God, help me to fit my life into the things that are your will for me to accomplish today." Now, while this is all fine and good, it is not what this petition is all about. Thy will be done is really about what God is doing, not what you are doing. It's about God stopping every single will which opposes His kingdom coming to you, or His name being made holy among you. Sometimes it's your will He stops.

The good and gracious will of God is Jesus' to accomplish! He gives His body in sacrifice for you on the tree, and sheds His blood there for you! He then feeds you with that same body and blood for your atonement, having reconciled you to your heavenly Father by His holy offering at Calvary, feeding you with the very payment price of your redemption. This is the once-and-for-all sacrifice with which God is well pleased. This is the offering with which is the will of God, the very desire of your Father above.

Yet how often do you read the Bible and wrongly assume it is all about what you are to do in attempt to please God. Much like the people of Israel long ago foolishly thought that their acts of sacrifice could do something to make God like them again. Even the laborious efforts of the Temple priests could not accomplish such an arduous task. Know that you can never, ever do enough on your own to please God. Which is why the work of God Himself in Christ Jesus must replace your feeble efforts.

For only Jesus is the Holy One of God. The accomplishment of God's will is found only in His work. The rest of mankind has inherited the sinfulness of Adam, and so we sin a lot, every day. If the sacrificial system of the OT were in place today, I'm sure your pastor would pass out from exhaustion! That just to atone for his own sins! No, that is not God's desire, for us sinners to keep offering sacrifices to Him. One final, perfect, holy sacrifice was needed for you–in Jesus Christ at the cross.

But you may think, "Our God is so confusing. He commanded sacrifices He didn't want and asks for offerings that He doesn't really need?" According to God's Law, these sacrifices were required, just as the offering up of your body in sacrificial service is still commanded. But you don't live by the Law.  

The Law of "what you should do" is given by God to serve His Gospel, never to replace it. The Law constantly accuses you, showing you how your feeble efforts pale in comparison to what Jesus has done in His sacrifice for you, so that you seek the forgiveness offered in word and sacrament. You are made holy by Christ's work alone, brought to His sacrifice on the cross in your baptism, receiving the fruits of His offering in the Lord's Supper, and hearing that God's will for you is done in Christ Jesus.

Amen.


Hymns from LSB:

#346  When All the World Was Cursed  text  tune  score
#357  O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
#342  What Hope! An Eden Prophesied

Advent 3 Philippians 4:4-7

You, be joyful in the Lord at all times; again I say, you be joyful! 

May your gracious-gentleness be known to all mankind. The Lord is near. You worry (about) nothing, but in all, in prayer and in plea with thanksgiving may your petitions be made known to God. And the peace of God, which rises above every mind, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 

The remainder, brothers, whatever is genuine, whatever worthy of respect, whatever right, whatever pure, whatever pleasing, whatever praiseworthy, if something is virtuous, if something is recognized-as-approved–these things you consider. And what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, these things you practice; and the God of peace will be with you.      

On this "rejoice" Sunday, you are reminded that you are called to be joyful at all times! And just in case you weren't paying attention, St. Paul is inspired to write it a second time, "Again I say ‘You rejoice!'" OK, you get that God wants you to be joyful, and you certainly can understand how a believer in Christ would find a lot of things about which to rejoice, especially when the Lord's blessings abound. But what about those times when lousy things happen, like in Connecticut last Friday?

But that word is there–"always". Christians are to be joyful all the time. But you know that you just don't feel happy 24/7, 356 days a year. Cruddy things happen in your life. Health problems debilitate you and your loved ones. Finances are way too tight, and you can't always pay the bills. Children don't behave as parents want, and parents don't treat their children like they desire. These and other circumstances abound with much reason for unhappiness. How can God say "rejoice always?"

Well, the first mistake you may make is that you mistake happiness for joy. They are not the same thing at all. Your happiness is based on the situations in this world. Your joy is based on the unchanging certainty of your home in heaven above. Happiness is a fleeting feeling, while joy is a fruit which is borne in you by the Holy Spirit. So recognize the differences between happiness and joy.

Jesus taught His disciples that they ought to rejoice whenever people persecuted them, imprisoned them, told lies about them, and even threatened them with death! This would happen only because of their connection to Christ Jesus. The devil failed to get your Savior directly, so now Satan attacks believers. But you have the peace of God which guards your hearts and; minds in Christ Jesus! This is the peace Jesus proclaims to you from the cross, saying, "Father, forgive them!" Forgiveness=peace.

The second error you may make is forgetting that you are to rejoice *in the Lord*. You are not to rejoice in a political triumph, or because your team won its bowl game, or because you got a raise at work. Your rejoicing is not to be in this world, or in anything associated with it. And your joy should never, ever be in your own accomplishments, lest you become prideful and suffer a fall off your perch.

Your joy is always to be *in the Lord*. This means that you are given to rejoice in those things which bring you everlasting peace with God. You rejoice, for example, that you are baptized, washed clean to be a child of God forevermore. You have great joy that you are proclaimed forgiven, absolutely, in the Name of the Trinity when you confess your sins. You rejoice that Jesus feeds you from His cross with His body given, and His blood shed for your forgiveness, your life, and your eternal salvation.

A third mistake you may make is that you forget the very reason for your joy–"the Lord is near!" When you foolishly think that God is somehow absent when tragedies and calamities befall so many here on earth, you have begun to forget that Jesus promised, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." As you wallow in your self pity, doubting that Jesus would even want to return to this sin-sick world that plagues you so much, you forget the promise of Jesus to return quickly. 

Jesus the God of Peace is with you in His word, proclaiming to you now that you are forgiven in your Savior's death at Calvary, and that you are saved from death and the devil forevermore. Jesus is also a Witness Who is faithful and true! He promises to return soon to this world to raise all the dead, to rescue you from all the crud of this realm, taking you from this valley of tears and sorrows to be with Him forevermore in heaven. He is near in word and sacraments now, and His return is ever nearer!

So, knowing that God works joy in your heart, keeps you always "in the Lord" by faith, and is ever-near to forgive, save, and give you life, you have every reason for rejoicing in the Lord always. Especially as you are ever-mindful of Jesus quick return during this season of Advent. Amen.

Hymns this week from LSB:

#333  Once He Came in Blessing  tune  stanzas
#345  Hark! A Thrilling Voice is Sounding! tune  stanzas
#349  Hark the Glad Sound  lyrics

Advent midweek PREPARE Rev. 22

And look, I come soon. Blessed–the one who safe-guards the words of the prophecy of this book. And I, John–the one having heard and having seen these things; and when I heard and I saw, I fell to worship on my knees in front of the feet of the angel, the one showing me these things. And he says to me, "See to it, you don't! A slave with you, I am and of your brothers, the prophets, and of those who safe-guard the words of this book. Be on your knees to God!" And he says to me, "Stop sealing the words of the prophecy of this book, for the season is near. May the unrighteous one be unrighteous yet, and may the impure be impure yet, and may the righteous one be made righteous yet, and the holy one be holy yet. Look, I come soon, and My reward with Me, to deliver to each as is his work. I–the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Source and the Perfect-Completion. Blessed–the ones having washed their robes, in order that their authority be upon the tree of life, and by the gates they may enter into the city. .         
   
The first time the incarnate Son of God came to this world, preparations were in order. John, not the author of Revelation, but the Lutheran-who-baptized, was sent by God to prepare Jesus' way. He did this by preaching God's Word of repentance and forgiveness, and by offering a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Before Jesus' public ministry began, folks were returned to the Lord once again, so that they would be made ready to receive the Christ's blessed words and actions. 
   
Now awaiting the return of Jesus to this world for a second time, we hear that word again: "prepare". As we view that word, we can't help but think about how we prepare for other things. There is a lot of work to be done to prepare a big family meal at holiday time. There is a lot of studying to prepare for a final exam. There's a lot of number-crunching to prepare the end of the year budget. In all these examples of preparing, it sure seems like a whole lot of effort. "Prepare" sounds like a "you gotta".
   
But tonight we hear other words too: "Comfort, comfort." This duplication is by design, much like my mother would yell, "Johnny...JOHNNY!" to get my attention, this word is repeated so that we understand just how important it is to realize that all this preparation is actually a "comfort" for you. "But, Pastor, it will take a lot of hard work to prepare all the people of the world for Jesus, coming soon!" Indeed it does. In fact, it takes so much effort that you and I, and indeed all the people of the world put together could not possibly accomplish what it takes to get everyone ready for Jesus.
   
Really, we are a lot like John. Not the Lutheran-baptizer this time, but the Revelation-writer. He thought he ought to be "doing something" so what did he do? The absolute wrong thing. He tried to worship an angel instead of God. So God stopped him in his tracks. You and I are the very same way. We want to "do something" to get ourselves ready for Christ's imminent return, but our very efforts, tainted by sin as they are, will most likely just muck up the works and not help at all.
   
That is why the work of preparation is all for God to do. "Really?" Yes! "But don't I have to worship God on my knees?" Don't fret about that, for God's Law brings you to your knees quite well, just as the message of His Gospel love from Jesus at the cross raises you up and gives you worth! "But don't I gotta keep God's word?" The Holy Ghost has that one handled already as well, by the gift of faith in your heart, He safe-guards that word of God that it may dwell richly in you unto your life everlasting.
   
"But don't I have to do enough good works for Jesus to be pleased with me on Judgment Day? For He will render to each one according to his works!" Well, what has become of all your impurity and unrighteousness? It has been washed clean from you at your baptism, and that filthy floodwater from the font flowed all the way to Jesus on the +, where He became impure & unrighteous in your place at Calvary. Jesus already suffered your punishment, so there's nothing left in you to be condemned! 
   
You are blessed with the gift of faith by which the word of God is safe-guarded in your heart. You are blessed to have robes washed clean by Jesus! For in the sweet swap of Calvary, the same Jesus Who became your sins on the tree trades to you His holiness, His purity, His righteousness as yours! You are blessed to be made righteous by Jesus, kept holy in His sight, so that when He returns, your judgment will be a comfort to you! For He is the Source of your being-prepared, and its Perfect-Completion! He Who began this good work in you will bring it to completion as He promised. Amen. 

hymns from LSB:

#354  Arise, O Christian People  lyrics  tune  (a little fast!)
#347  Comfort, Comfort, Ye my People

Advent II Philemon 2-11

I give thanks to my God upon all the memories of you, at all times in all my entreaties on behalf of all of you; upon your communion into the Gospel from the first day up to the now, trusting this same thing, that the One Who made a beginning in you a good work, He will perfectly-complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. To the degree that it is right to me to think this on behalf of all of you, through the having of you in my heart, and in my bonds and in the defense and certainty of the Gospel, sharers in grace with me, you all are. For God–my witness, as I long for all of you in the gut of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, in order that your love (from God) yet more and more be over-abundant in complete knowledge and all insight into your testing the drifts, so that you be of pure-motives and without offense unto the day of Christ, being ones filled with fruit of righteousness, the one through Jesus Christ, into glory and approval of God.   

Some folks are worried that in just a couple of weeks, on December 21st to be exact, that the world will come to an end. The Mayan calendar says so, so it must be true. Plus it was verified by the Weekly World News and the National Enquirer. Soon the tests will come back and Maury Povitch will verify this as fact, right? Of course not. Jesus made it clear that nobody knows, not even Himself, as to when this world will end. Yet, what we do know, is that it is not a Mayan date, but the Day of Christ! 

It's not man's day to worry about. It's Christ's Day to return. Yet you may worry, just the same. Jesus may come back soon, and what if you haven't accomplished all that He has wanted you to do? Will He return with a scowl on His face toward you? Sometimes folks expect that Jesus is like St. Nick, knowing if you are naughty or nice, and when that day of arrival comes, you'll receive only a lump of coal in your stocking instead of a nice present under the tree. All too many dread that last Day...

But for you there is nothing at all to worry about. For Jesus began a good work in you long ago at the day of your baptism. There, He washed you clean from all your sins, and traded them for His Own righteousness. Since that day, Christ has dwelled richly in you to bear fruit in you of that righteousness of His. He made you a baptized child of God, and His Holy Spirit has kept you in the one true faith your whole life. He promises to keep working in you to your salvation's completion!

Well, you might be all right, concerning just yourself, but there are those relationships you have with other people which aren't always what they could be. You have estranged kinships with family members, frustrations in your dealings with people at work or school, and even former friends with whom you know that you should be reconciled. Your fellowship with other people is very different from your communion with God, and this troubles you. Is this going to be a problem for you on the last day?

St. Paul reminds you of the communion-fellowship of the Gospel, that special koinonia God works for you and for others. It has two dimensions, remember: the vertical keeping you connected to God, and the horizontal which unites you with fellow believers in Christ. Paul tells the Philippians and you too to trust in that same God-given fellowship, for in it we all share in the same grace of Christ Jesus. For He gave His body and shed His blood for that communion we share in the forgiveness of all our sins.

OK, so you will trust that God has your salvation taken care of, and that He is even in charge of your relationships with others. But what about your lack of love? You know that you do things with self-centeredness, and with wrong motives. Your knowledge of God's loving will for you is often lacking. Your insight to test the drifts of doctrine fails. Your words on-line and in person have offended people, and your behaviors would more readily be called "wrong-tiousness" than they would "righteousness". 

Indeed, when your love for God or for others has failed, you repent. Yet this too comes not from yourself, but from God's love in you. It is no longer you who lives, but Christ Who lives in you. So it is His love, not yours, that wins the day. In fact, Jesus love is given to you so abundantly, in His word proclaimed and in His sacraments received, that it is yours in super-abundance! His forgiveness from the cross to you overflows! This love comes directly from the gut of Jesus, pierced for your salvation.

So as you long for Jesus return, and await the approach of that last day, don't fear, but rather, rejoice! For on that Day of Christ, He comes as your just Judge, having done everything for your salvation, from beginning to perfect completion. He will find you on that day, forgiven of your sin, cleansed from your unrighteousness, purified and made holy in His sight, glorious and approved by God for life eternal.  

Amen.

Hymns from LSB:
#343  Prepare the Royal Highway  music  stanzas
#344  On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry  music  stanzas
#334  Oh Lord, How Shall I Meet You?  music  stanzas

ADVENT 1 I Thessalonians 3:9-13

For what thanksgiving are we able to repay to God concerning you, upon all the joy which we rejoice on account of you before our God, night and day eagerly we ask to see your face and to restore the things lacking of your faith; and God Himself, also our Father and our Lord Jesus guide our pathway to you; and you, may the Lord cause you to grow and to be in abundance in (God's) love unto others and unto all, just as we unto you, into the firmness of your hearts, blamelessly in holiness in the face of our God and Father in connection with the return of our Lord Jesus with all His holy ones. Amen.  
   


Happy New Year! Jesus is coming back soon to make all things new. The old heavens and earth we've sadly grown all to accustomed to will all go away. Jesus second-coming in triumph is just around the corner. When Jesus does return, He will restore paradise once again with a new heaven and earth. For some it will be a time of joyous rejoicing. Yet for others, it will be the saddest day of all. Only those who stand blamelessly in holiness before the face of God on Judgment Day will be blessed. 
   
OK, so how do you know whether you will be blameless in holiness on the Last Day? After all, your brain doesn't always work perfectly. You think all kinds of things that you know you shouldn't. Nor does you always feel the things that are Godly. There are all kinds of attitudes, opinions, emotions, and wrong beliefs that you have, at times. With all these wrong things in your body of sinful flesh, it sure doesn't seem like you are very blameless, does it. With them you don't appear to be very holy.
   
Praise God that He is not finished with you yet! Like Paul's task with the errors of the Thessalonians, God also wants to restore those things that are lacking in your faith. So He preaches His Law and Gospel to you each week in the sermon, teaches you His truth in bible studies and devotions, and proclaims His love to you in His words of the Sunday morning liturgy. This is so that just as God guided Paul's pathway to Thessalonica, that He would guide your feet as well into the way of truth. 
   
Yet you still might be concerned about your blamelessness and holiness, because at times you may backtrack, and return to old sinful attitudes and habits. It seems like, instead of growing closer to God, you keep drifting farther from Him, at times. Your relationships with other people aren't at all what you had hoped they'd be. Your focus on God and His goodness tends to drift instead toward the sad, miserable things of this world. You don't feel as blameless and holy as you know you should be.
   
Again, praise God that He has not given up on you during these occasions either! For God gives you His love in abundance. He feeds you often with the very body of Jesus given for you. He bids you to drink often from His cup of salvation, shed for you for your forgiveness. In that forgiveness, all your sins are taken away, leaving you holy and blameless in His sight. He causes you to grow, and His love fills you up to overflowing, so that God's love for others spills over from you to your neighbor as well!
   
And still, there is some uncertainty at times as to whether you will keep on being blameless and holy up to the day Jesus returns. It might be a long time yet before He arrives in triumph. As time goes on, your heart may well grow weary from all the burdens, challenges and struggles this life brings to bear. You may fear that your heart will simply grow to week to keep on relying on the Lord, trusting in God. Your confidence may wane, and then you fear that you won't stay holy and blameless in God's sight.
   
Once again, God comes to the rescue at such times! God provides for you a firmness of your heart in your baptism. Your old stony heart that hardened itself against God and His will is gone. He has created in you a new heart, and placed a right spirit–His Holy Spirit to dwell there. Yes your baptism is for you a heart transplant. Your sin-sick, dying heart Jesus took as His Own at the cross. His pure, righteous, holy and blameless heart, He trades to you now as your very own as a baptized child of God!   
   
So, how do you approach Jesus return on the last day now? Not with your head hung low as though you are not holy enough or blameless enough to get a good judgment from Him. You lift up your heads, you mighty gates! For Jesus has taken all your blame, all your unholiness, into His body on the tree of Calvary, and it's buried in His death. You now, filled with Jesus' Own righteousness, credited to your account by faith, lack nothing, filled with God's forgiving love, to stand before your God in the firmness of faith, for the holiness and blamelessness of Jesus is yours, forevermore! Amen.

Hymns for the Day from LSB:

#331  The Advent of Our King   music  stanzas
#335  Oh Bride of Christ, Rejoice!  music  stanzas
#332  Savior of the Nations Come!  stanzas (A Luther Hymn)
#341  Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates! stanzas music

Sunday of the Fulfillment Jude 20-25

And you, loved by God, building yourselves upon your holy faith, in the Holy Spirit, praying; you keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting-with-expectation the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ into life everlasting. On the one hand, you have mercy on some divided ones; on the other hand, others, you save, out of fire you drag away; and on a third hand you have mercy on some, in fear, hating even clothes stained from the flesh. And to the One able to safeguard you without stumbling and to stand before His glory blamelessly in gladness, in the Only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord glory, greatness, power, and authority before all the eons, and now, and into all the eons. Amen. 

Today is the very last Sunday of the church year, known as the Festival of the Fulfillment. On this occasion, our attention is drawn to that Day when everything God intends to accomplish in this world is completed. When the good & gracious will of God on earth is done, on that last day Jesus will return at the last trumpet, with the voice of the Archangel. He returns from the right hand of the heavenly throne to judge all people, sending the unrighteous to perish, the righteous remaining in Him. 

Now, the challenge before us this day is that we don't know when all God's work on this earth will be finished, so we don't know how long we have until Judgment Day. Because of this, there ought to be an intense sense of urgency for all of us in the church to do whatever we can to save those close to us, dragging them away from the hell-fire that is certain to come otherwise. But sadly, we don't seem very urgent about this. Instead, we go about our daily grinds as though Jesus isn't even returning!

For this we need to repent as a church, and you too as individual Christians. You have family members, friends, co-workers, fellow club-members, any of whom may not have saving faith in Jesus as you have. God gave you a faith in Christ as a gift of His love, to trust in His mercy that He delivers to you through the word preached to you, and in the sacraments–God's love-in-action which you receive. Do you not want the same mercy for those you care about, which you already receive here?

A second challenge is to have anticipation for Jesus to come back quickly. Do you eagerly pray for the return of your Lord & Savior? Is Judgment Day something you think about each day as you await Christ's return with expectation? Or instead, is this something far from your mind, most days? Perhaps you are content with your favorite trespasses and sinful habits you enjoy. Maybe you don't really want to shun all the ways of this wicked world, comfortable in your garments stained with sin.

For this too each of us needs to repent. As you await Christ's return, you need to be bathed constantly in God's mercy. Your baptism is given to you as a daily bath, to cleanse you from unrighteousness. You need daily contrition & repentance, so that the old Adam of your sinful flesh can be drowned & die daily as you remember that you are a baptized child of God, washed clean and made holy by the Lord He keeps you from stumbling and stands you up blameless in His sight.

A third challenge we face as the church awaits the fulfillment of all things on earth is being divided. God builds you, His church, into one building, upon the foundation of your holy faith in Christ Jesus. He Himself is the foundation stone that we all are to be built upon. Yet, there are times when you prefer an "us vs. them" attitude. You may look down on those with doubts, prideful of your own confidence. Perhaps you shun God's teachings of mercy in favor of your own way of thinking.

For this also, every one of us must repent. For God alone is the One with the greatness, power, might, and authority to provide the mercy the church needs to remain built upon the solid foundation of faith in Christ Jesus. He teaches us this in Sunday School, Bible class, and in devotions. He proclaims this unifying grace in sermons like this one, declaring to you: "Jesus gives you mercy to life everlasting from the +, where He gave His life as a ransom for yours, trading your death for his eternal life!" 

So what is given you as you await Christ's return on the last Day? First, His gift of saving mercy is yours, payed for in full at Calvary, delivered to you in His word proclaimed & in sacraments received. Secondly, God gives you a task as you eagerly anticipate Judgment Day: to take that saving mercy which you have received, and in turn, give it to others in your life whom you care about. How?

You can invite them to church to receive these gifts along with you; you can bring them to the pastor's adult information class to learn about this foundation of the faith; and you can tell them about what Jesus has already done for you. In this way you may have mercy on some, as God has had on you.

Amen.

Hymns for today from LSB:
#663  Rise my Soul to Watch and Pray
#336  Lo He Comes with Clouds Descending
#659  Lord of our Life and God of our Salvation

Thanksgiving 1 Timothy 2:1-4

Therefore, I call (you) alongside (me), first of all, to make entreaties, prayers, requests, thanksgivings on behalf of all mankind, on behalf of kings and all of the ones being in high positions, so that quiet and restful lives we be led through in all godliness and seriousness. This–good and pleasing in the face of our Savior, God, Who wills all men to be saved, and into knowledge of truth to come. For One God, and One Mediator of God and mankind–a man, Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a substitute-ransom on behalf of all, the Witness in a proper season. Into which I myself was placed an herald and an apostle. Truth I speak, not falsehood, a teacher of the nations in faith and truth. I desire, then the men in all places to pray, raising up devout hands without anger and arguments.   

A blessed Thanksgiving to each of you! This is an occasion for us to especially remember what we ought to be doing throughout the whole year–giving thanks to God for all of His blessings. In our text for today, St. Paul reminds young Pastor Timothy that he should be thankful for not just the eternal, glorious blessings of heaven which God has given, but also for those earthly, temporary, and sometimes imperfect gifts which God bestows to all the people of the world out of His divine love. 

Paul is inspired to remind us all that our very prayers should include the giving of thanks. Now most times, we find this to be very easy, since our focus is first & foremost on those completely good, perfect gifts which God gives from above. Of course we are grateful for these blessings. But what about the not-so-perfect gifts from God? What about the ones that are tainted with obvious flaws? What about the blessings that are stained also by sin? Are you just as thankful for those, as well?

Paul instructs us to be thankful for those in high positions. We just had another election. Are all the candidates voted into office "perfect"? Not at all. Did some of the nominees get elected whom you *didn't* vote for? No doubt. Is there much distrust in general toward politicians and government? You bet! So how does this effect your prayer-life? Do you say, "I'm not praying for that so-and-so!" or "OK, I'll pray–that he gets abducted by aliens." Shame on you. This is not given to you as a Christian! 

Instead, you should be thankful for each and every office holder. You should pray for those who were just elected, regardless of whether or not they agree with your positions, and even if you don't find them to be all that "trust-worthy" in and of themselves. Why? First, because God saw fit to allow them to be in office over you, and you are given to "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's". God, throughout history has used believing and non-believing rulers and leaders for His Own ultimate purposes.

Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, you pray for all people because Jesus died for all people! Jesus gave Himself as a substitute for all mankind, to pay the ransom price to redeem everyone! So as you raise up your devout hands in prayer, give thanks for everyone, not because all people are perfect, but that all people have the same Mediator that you do to reconcile you to God! You aren't perfect, but Jesus saved you, dying on your behalf at the cross, as He did for everyone.

So when you pray for fellow sinners who need God's grace as you do, make your requests for them with thanksgiving. As you pray for your sometimes rebellious children, thank God for them. When you pray for your sometimes-stubborn spouse, look at him/her as a blessing from the Lord for which you are grateful. When you pray for that church member who sometimes disagrees with you at meetings, be ever thankful that God has redeemed that person to be incorporated into the body of Christ!

Then, and only then, after you pray with an attitude of gratitude first, you make your requests for them known to God. Not just so that your life might be easier, but so that peace can remain between you and all people, so that your life may stay quiet, restful, godly and be lived with dignity. For the same Savior Who reconciled you to your heavenly Father by receiving all His anger & punishment in His Own body nailed to the tree, can likewise reconcile you to those who give you cause for arguments.

This is what it means that Jesus is a Witness in the proper season. The season is now to proclaim Jesus as the God of all reconciliation. Since He has already made the greater peace with the vertical reconciliation between God the Father and all mankind, how do we not have ultimate confidence that Jesus and His love can make peace between us and other people? As we pray for those who sometimes drive us nuts, be thankful at all times for the horizontal reconciliation God works. 

In word & sacrament, remain reconciled to God in Jesus, praying thankful prayers for all people.

Pentecost 25 (Proper 28) Hebrews 10:11-25

And on the one hand, every priest stands according to the day 'liturgising' and many times offering sacrifices, which are not ever able to take away sin; on the other hand, This One offered one sacrifice on behalf of sins in perpetuity sat down on the right hand of God, the remainder He awaits until His enemies are placed–a footstool of His feet. For in one offering He has perfectly-completed into perpetuity those being made holy. And the Holy Spirit even testifies to us, for after the saying: "‘This–the testament which I will testify to them after those days,' says the Lord; ‘I will give my Law upon their heart, and upon their mind I will engrave them...and their sins and their lawlessness, no, I will no longer remember.'" And where there is forgiveness of these, no longer is there an offering concerning sin. Having been, then, brothers, we are bold into the entering of the holy place in the blood of Jesus, was made new to us, a recent and living pathway through the veil, that is, His flesh, and a great Chief Priest upon the house of God, may we come forward with a genuine heart in fullness of faith, hearts sprinkled from consciences of evil, and bodies washed in pure water; may we hold firm the confession of the hope unwavering, for faithful is the One Who has promised; and may we consider others into urgings of (God's) love and good works, and may we not abandon the gathering together of ourselves, just as the custom of some, but calling (them) alongside, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.   

Confidence seems to be lacking nowadays. No doubt, at least some of those you voted for this month did not get elected. We are concerned about escalating conflicts in the middle east that some fear could lead to a global war. We fear an oncoming "fiscal cliff" if our nation keeps borrowing money and increasing a debt that doesn't seem like it could ever be paid back. Moral decay in the social realms where human life is devalued more and more, and chastity is all but forgotten, decreases our hope...  

To this, some simply pray "Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus" as we see more and more evidence of decay in this world, and the Day approaching for the world to come. But as we await the return of Jesus from the right hand of His Father's throne above, we don't just sit down here twiddling our thumbs. Nor do we act like people who have no hope, or as those without any confidence in God. Instead, we do those things which God has given to be done among us, for the benefit of all.

The writer to the Hebrews first takes us to a picture of worship. The priests would conduct the liturgy of their day, the service of God to his people by sacrifices. Likewise, the called minister of Christ conducts the liturgy of the Divine Service to bless you this day. This liturgy is simply God's works which benefit His people. It is God's service to you today that He bless you with a triple helping of forgiveness of your sins, in both word and sacrament, from the one and only sacrifice of Jesus, for you!

For Jesus sacrificed Himself, once and for all, for you at the cross of Calvary. He gave up His life as an offering for your sins there. He is the Lamb of God slain in your place at Golgotha. Having died for you, Jesus raised Himself to life again, and ascended to the right hand of the Father to reign over you, and over the entire church in heaven and on earth. You won't see Him until He returns on the last day.

This same Jesus doesn't leave you lonesome here on earth, but comes to you in His Divine Service. When you were baptized, Jesus came then to sprinkle your heart clean and your evil conscience washed. He did this so you could come forward in worship with a genuine and true heart, one which He fills with faith. You enter this holy place, the house of God's presence because you are forgiven! 

In each and every sermon, you hear that Jesus died for you, for the forgiveness of your sins! His once and for all offering for sin had taken away your lawless thoughts, words, and actions. God remembers them no more! For your sins were borne in Jesus body on the tree, where He-Who-knew-no-sins of His Own, became your sin, and suffered the death you deserved there, in your place.

No curtain is draped in this church separating you from the presence of your holy God like it was back in the Temple. The veil is torn from top to bottom as Jesus' Own flesh was pierced on the cross for you. That is why the new veil is the flesh of Jesus given to you to eat in the Lord's Supper. You enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus shed for you, which you drink for your forgiveness in Communion.

So many of God's blessings occur each Sunday here, that we ought never neglect being gathered into God's house. Instead, we walk alongside others, calling and urging them to good works of God's love.  

Amen

Reformation Sunday Romans 3:19-28

And we know that whatever the Law says, to those in the Law it speaks, in order that every mouth may be shut, and all the world become liable to judgment in God. Through that, out of the works of the Law all flesh will not be made righteous before Him, for through the Law–knowledge of sin. And now, separate from the Law, righteousness of God is revealed, witnessed by the Torah and the Prophets, and righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ, into all the ones believing, for there is no difference, for all miss the mark & lack the reflection of God, being made righteous–a gift in His grace through the ransoming–the one in Christ Jesus; Whom God placed before–a appeasement through faith in His blood, into a demonstration of His righteousness, through the letting go of sins unpunished which were done before; in the holding back of God, to the demonstration of His righteousness in the now-season, into Him being righteous, and making righteous the one having the faith of Jesus. Where then, the bragging? Excluded. Through what Law? Of the works? No, but through a law of faith. For we consider a man to be made righteous in faith, separate from works of the Law. 

This week we celebrate a holiday which embraces what is alien, that which seem strange, things that appear weird, foreign notions to what we consider normal–a holiday that celebrates uniqueness and difference. Of course the holiday I'm talking about is...Reformation Day! Yes, October 31st is the day the Lutheran reformation began as Martin Luther shook up the establishment church of his day by daring to debate the teachings and practices of Rome. By doing so, Lutherans favor what is alien. 

Alien?! Really? Yes. I know what you are thinking, that things alien are no good. When the aliens from Mars attacked in War of the Worlds with their heat rays, that was bad. When illegal aliens cross the border to take our jobs, use up our welfare, and send money back to their homeland, that is bad. But not everything foreign or alien is bad. Sometimes the cuisine from other lands is downright tasty! So we do well to appreciate the alien things, the foreign things which the Lutheran reformation embraces.

You see, the Roman church of Luther's day needed a reformation. It had embraced the common notion that doing good gets you into heaven, and doing evil sends you to the other place. So the Roman church pushed self-righteousness on all the people. You had to do this, jump through that hoop, avoid this other thing, and strive, struggle, and strain yourself until you did enough. But you never did. So they placed you in the fictitious place called purgatory to burn your sins from you first.

But this was not what God taught in His word, Luther noted. The Bible talked about salvation by grace, through faith, and not of your works, but instead, a gift through the ransoming in Jesus at the cross. Where the Roman church had veered from its moorings in scripture over time, Luther rediscovered the truth of salvation as true gift, purchased and won by Christ alone at Calvary. Where the Roman church made you into some sort of co-Savior, Luther returned Jesus to status as sole-Savior! 

This notion was not really anything new, but it was foreign to how the Roman church had been teaching for centuries. It seemed so weird & strange to so many who were ignorant of what God actually taught in Scripture. These alien notions of Luther caused him to be condemned as a heretic. But his conscience was held captive to God's Word alone, and he and his fellow Lutherans stood firm to this seemingly foreign and alien notion which the supreme Pope just would not tolerate.

But in Luther's case, *alien* was "good"! For the works which save you from sin, death and from the power of the devil are not your own. You can't seek self-righteousness in order to please God, so He'll let you into His heaven one day. For that you'd have to be perfect for your whole lifetime! You haven't been even close. Even your best efforts at righteousness, Isaiah calls "filthy rags" in God's sight. You can't ever make yourself good enough to earn eternal life. You can't do enough to merit heaven.

Since your own righteousness will never measure up, you must have a completely different sort of righteousness. Yes you need a righteousness that is "foreign" to you. You require an "alien" righteousness, one that is far removed from yourself. For this God is your righteousness. Your righteousness is found in Christ Jesus. He is the only Righteous One Who kept the commandments perfectly. Jesus alone did all the right things to earn heaven. It's all about Him being righteous for you!

Jesus traded your sins for His righteousness at the cross. He gives you faith in His blood, shed for you for your forgiveness. You are made righteous by God in faith, by Christ's alien righteousness to save you! .

Amen!

Hymns for today from LSB:

#578  Thy Strong Word  stanzas to sing along
#655  Lord Keep Us Steadfast in Thy Word
#555  Salvation Unto Us has Come   stanzas
#656  A Mighty Fortress is Our God from Psalm 46

Pentecost 21 (Proper 24) Hebrew 4:1-13

You look, brothers, (that there) not be sometime in anyone of you an evil heart of unbelief, in standing away from the living God. But you are called to be alongside one another according to each day, until which it is called "today" , so that not anyone out of you may be hardened in seduction of sin. For we have become partakers of the Christ, if ever indeed we hold down stable the beginning of the confidence until the end. In the saying, "Today, if ever of His voice you hear, do not harden your hearts as at the embitterment. For which ones, having heard, caused embitterment,  but (was it) not all the ones having gone out of Egypt through Moses. And in which ones did He become disgusted with 40 years? (Was it) not to the ones having sinned, of whom the dead carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to which ones did He swear not to enter into His sabbath rest, if not to the ones having disobeyed? And we see that they were not able to enter through unbelief.
  
What exactly causes so many to miss out on the blessings of heaven, winding up in hell instead? Amos tells us those who seek good enter the sabbath rest of heaven, and those who seek evil don't receive life. Jesus tells the rich man he must sell all he has and then follow Christ into heaven. The writer to the Hebrews says not to harden your hearts against God in unbelief. At first glance, it seems a bit confusing as to how one avoids going to hell. Seek good...do good...avoid evil and a hard heart...

One popular notion is that "it's all up to you". Famous preachers from Billy Graham to David Jeremiah teach this false gospel of "decision theology", which sadly many a Lutheran falls for. This lie of the devil says that you are completely free to choose heaven or hell. "You can seek God or not" they say. "You can invite Jesus into your heart or exclude Him" they teach. You are completely in charge...

But you know, of course, that you are not in complete control of your salvation. God is almighty, you aren't. You can't by your own decision sprout wings and fly yourself into heaven. Only by God's grace for you in Christ Jesus does He gift you with eternal life. He baptizes you, He feeds you at communion, He comforts you with the message of Christ's love in dying on the cross for you.

Another popular idea banks on God's almighty-ness, that your eternal fate is "all up to Him". These Christians cling to the Calvinist false teaching that God's sovereignty rules out your will completely. Since God speaks of the "book of life" in heaven, these folks wrongly assume He also has a "book of death" in which He condemns folks he hates to damnation. You are a pawn in God's chess game... 

But scripture declares that God wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. God didn't so love a certain number of people, but He loved the whole world so much that He sent His son Jesus to die for them all, paying the price at Calvary of His body given and blood shed in death in exchange for the lives of all people. Sadly, though, not all people receive this bought and paid for gift from Jesus.

So if heaven or hell isn't 100% up to God, and it's not 100% up to you, some think salvation must be some sort of "cooperation" between God and man. Such folks foolishly think that either Jesus got the ball rolling for your salvation and you must complete it, or that you must strive first to save yourself and Jesus finishes the job.  This is just as wrong too, for this makes Christ only a partial Savior.

You know that you have only one Savior, Jesus the Christ. He saves you by His twin gifts of grace and faith. His grace for you was in giving up Himself on the tree of Calvary as your ransom price, paid in full to redeem you from sin, death and hell. His faith in you is the gift and work of His Holy Spirit, that you trust in Him to receive the forgiveness, the life, and the salvation He gives you in Word and Sacrament.

So with all these crazy notions out there among Christians as to how one gets to heaven or hell, what is the truth? Truth #1 is that the question "Who chooses heaven or hell for a person?" is unanswerable, because it's a lousy question. If you answer with "God chooses heaven or hell" you end up in one ditch, and if you answer "man chooses heaven/hell" you wind up in the opposite ditch.

The only answer to such a bad unbiblical question is to ditch it and ask to separate questions: 1)  Who chooses hell? The person who persists in stubborn unbelief, by not believing, they are not receiving the forgiveness Jesus offers in His word proclaimed and sacraments offered, so they remain in their sins. And 2) Who chose heaven for you? Answer: Jesus, Who died for you at Calvary! In Him you are forgiven! In Christ you have complete salvation! In your Lord and Savior you have the sabbath rest of life eternal in the paradise of heaven by God-given grace, and faith worked in your heart.

Amen.

Hymns from LSB:
# 689 Let Me be Thine Forever
# 690 Hope of the World
# 748 I'm but a Stranger here

Pentecost 20 (Proper 23) Hebrews 3:12-19

You look, brothers, (that there) not be sometime in anyone of you an evil heart of unbelief, in standing away from the living God. But you are called to be alongside one another according to each day, until which it is called "today" , so that not anyone out of you may be hardened in seduction of sin. For we have become partakers of the Christ, if ever indeed we hold down stable the beginning of the confidence until the end. In the saying, "Today, if ever of His voice you hear, do not harden your hearts as at the embitterment. For which ones, having heard, caused embitterment,  but (was it) not all the ones having gone out of Egypt through Moses. And in which ones did He become disgusted with 40 years? (Was it) not to the ones having sinned, of whom the dead carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to which ones did He swear not to enter into His sabbath rest, if not to the ones having disobeyed? And we see that they were not able to enter through unbelief.

  
What exactly causes so many to miss out on the blessings of heaven, winding up in hell instead? Amos tells us those who seek good enter the sabbath rest of heaven, and those who seek evil don't receive life. Jesus tells the rich man he must sell all he has and then follow Christ into heaven. The writer to the Hebrews says not to harden your hearts against God in unbelief. At first glance, it seems a bit confusing as to how one avoids going to hell. Seek good...do good...avoid evil and a hard heart...

One popular notion is that "it's all up to you". Famous preachers from Billy Graham to David Jeremiah teach this false gospel of "decision theology", which sadly many a Lutheran falls for. This lie of the devil says that you are completely free to choose heaven or hell. "You can seek God or not" they say. "You can invite Jesus into your heart or exclude Him" they teach. You are completely in charge...

But you know, of course, that you are not in complete control of your salvation. God is almighty, you aren't. You can't by your own decision sprout wings and fly yourself into heaven. Only by God's grace for you in Christ Jesus does He gift you with eternal life. He baptizes you, He feeds you at communion, He comforts you with the message of Christ's love in dying on the cross for you.

Another popular idea banks on God's almighty-ness, that your eternal fate is "all up to Him". These Christians cling to the Calvinist false teaching that God's sovereignty rules out your will completely. Since God speaks of the "book of life" in heaven, these folks wrongly assume He also has a "book of death" in which He condemns folks he hates to damnation. You are a pawn in God's chess game... 

But scripture declares that God wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. God didn't so love a certain # of people, but He loved the whole world so much that He sent His son Jesus to die for them all, paying the price at Calvary of His body given and blood shed in death in exchange for the lives of all people. Sadly, though, not all people receive this bought and paid for gift from Jesus.

So if heaven or hell isn't 100% up to God, and it's not 100% up to you, some think salvation must be some sort of "cooperation" between God and man. Such folks foolishly think that either Jesus got the ball rolling for your salvation and you must complete it, or that you must strive first to save yourself and Jesus finishes the job.  This is just as wrong too, for this makes Christ only a partial Savior.

You know that you have only one Savior, Jesus the Christ. He saves you by His twin gifts of grace and faith. His grace for you was in giving up Himself on the tree of Calvary as your ransom price, paid in full to redeem you from sin, death and hell. His faith in you is the gift and work of His Holy Spirit, that you trust in Him to receive the forgiveness, the life, and the salvation He gives you in word and sacrament.

So with all these crazy notions out there among Christians as to how one gets to heaven or hell, what is the truth? Truth #1 is that the question "Who chooses heaven or hell for a person?" is unanswerable, because it's a lousy question. If you answer with "God chooses heaven or hell" you end up in one ditch, and if you answer "man chooses heaven/hell" you wind up in the opposite ditch.

The only answer to such a bad unbiblical question is to ditch it and ask to separate questions: 1)  Who chooses hell? The person who persists in stubborn unbelief, by not believing, they are not receiving the forgiveness Jesus offers in His word proclaimed & sacraments offered, so they remain in their sins. And 2) Who chose heaven for you? Answer: Jesus, Who died for you at Calvary! In Him you are forgiven! In Christ you have complete salvation! In your Lord and Savior you have the sabbath rest of life eternal in the paradise of heaven by God-given grace, and faith worked in your heart.

Amen.

Hymns from LSB:
#858  Oh Father, All Creating
#863  Our Father, by Whose Name
#834  O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth  stanzas to sing along

Pentecost 19 (Proper 22) Hebrews 2:1-13

On account of this, it is abundantly necessary to pay close attention to the things we have heard, otherwise we will drift away. For if the word spoken through angels became confirmed, and if every transgression and disregarding received righteous retribution, how will we ourselves escape, having neglected so great a salvation? Of such a kind as at the beginning taken, to be spoken through the Lord , by the ones hearing into us it was confirmed, God with testifying upon in both signs and wonders and a variety of powers and Holy Spirit apportionments according to His will?  For not to angels did He subject the inhabited world about to be, concerning of what we speak. But someone through testimony somewhere was saying, "Who is mankind that You consider him, or the Son of Man that You look upon Him? You made Him less important than the angels for a bit; in glory and in honor you have crowned Him; all things you make to submit under His feet." For in the submitting of all things, He left nothing unsubmissive to Him. Yet now we do not see all things submissive to Him. But the One made less important than angels for a bit, we do see–Jesus, on account of the suffering of the death, in glory and honor He is crowned, so that in God's grace, on behalf of all He should taste death.         
   
OK, so folks ask me, "Who wrote the letter to the Hebrews, Pastor?" and I respond, "I have no idea. It is unknown." Then we have this anonymous writer of Hebrews saying that "Someone, somewhere once said, ‘What is mankind that you would consider it..." Now, if you tried to turn in a paper without your name on it, quoting anonymous sources, you wouldn't expect a good grade. But it is fitting that the writer of Hebrews is unknown, and that he doesn't cite the source of these important words. 
   
Why? Because that's the whole point! What is man? Man is puny compared to Almighty God. Man doesn't deserve to be mentioned alongside the Lord and His Word. Mankind is unworthy of being in his Savior's presence. We should be like Wayne and Garth in the Wayne's World skits and movies, falling down on our faces before our creator, saying, "We're not worthy!" The Father above shouldn't give a second thought to poor, miserable sinners like you and me. So why should anyone's name matter.
   
Well, if you are curious, the writer to the Hebrews is actually quoting King David's fine psalm, Psalm 8, which praises God tremendously, while at the same time downplaying the role of human beings. But the writer to the Hebrews is inspired by the Holy Ghost not to mention great King David's name at all. Why? Because the point is not about you or me, or any other simple human being. It's all about One greater than all mankind put together. It's about the Son of Man, worthy of all consideration.
   
Jesus became man and came into a world full of families breaking up. Husbands and wives were divorcing left and right, and the children were caught in the cross-fire. Mankind at its worst. Those who use children as pawns to get back at their ex-spouse are the very folks Jesus said would be better off to have had a mill-stone tied around their necks and tossed into the sea! What is mankind to so easily toss aside God's gift of joining husband to wife as though this were not a sin against Him?
   
So, who is man in God's sight? Not much at all. But Who is the Son of Man in God's sight? Jesus is the only good person; He alone is the only One who deserves the glory and honor of eternal life in heaven. So if God had wanted to, He could have done away with everybody else, including you and me, and reserved the crown of life for His only-begotten Son Jesus, alone. Who could blame the Father if He chose to do that? None of us are worthy of paradise. Only Jesus is worthy of God's love.
   
That's just when God surprises us. You have these messengers from God who serve you called "angels", right. They are your servants, much lower than you. God the Father decided to take the Son of Man, Jesus, and make Him even lower than servants. Jesus became the slave of slaves, having come to serve and give His life as a ransom for you! On account of the suffering of His death on the cross, you are no longer out of the Father's consideration. He is now mindful of you in Christ Jesus!
   
For Jesus tasted death for your sake.  He endured your death at the cross–the eternal condemnation you deserved. Everything now submits itself to Jesus, including your sins which were washed from you to Jesus at the cross through your baptism; including death which is defeated in Jesus' death, His body given and blood shed now yours for your life and salvation; including the condemnation of hell which Jesus bore for you on Calvary's tree. You see this submitting to Jesus in word and sacrament. Amen