Festival of Saint Bartholomew Luke 22:24-30

And there came to be a contention among them, which of them seemed to be the greatest. And (Jesus) said to them, "The kings of the nations lord them and the ones having authority over them are called ‘Good-workers'. Yet you are not so, but the one greatest among you, may he be as the youngest, and the leader as the servant. For who is greatest, the one reclining, or the one serving? Is it not the one reclining? But I Myself, in your midst, am as the one serving. And you, yourselves have stood, remaining with Me in My testings; and such as I confer to you, just as My Father conferred Me a kingdom, that you may eat and drink upon My table in My kingdom, and you will sit upon thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel."  

OK, so I know what y'all are thinking. Just what is St. Bartholomew's day all about? If you've ever heard of St. Bart's, it's as a reference to an exotic Caribbean Isle. But today is the Festival of this seemingly obscure Saint of whom very little is known. What little we do know about him is by his first name, Nathaniel, and even that's not much. So why don't we know a whole lot about St. Bart? Most likely because he did his job well, serving in his work as a humble slave of His Lord Jesus Christ. 

No, St. Bartholomew is no "St. Peter" or "St. Paul" or "St. John". But he was an Apostle who served Jesus' church all the same. We don't know any specifics at all about exactly what he preached, or where he went, or what he did for the church. But it just doesn't matter. Because St. Bart's job wasn't to make a great name for himself. Quite the opposite. His job was to make the name of Jesus the Christ greater. The very fact that we know almost nothing about Bartholomew bodes well for him.

You would prefer to be a "St Peter" or a "St Paul", wouldn't you. Admit it, you want folks to hear you name and think of somebody who's accomplished great things. You want to be thought of as the Greatest. But you can't, since Muhammed Ali has already claimed that title for himself. Actually, it is your rabbi, meaning "my great one", Jesus who is the Greatest of all, as shown by His service to you.

Our worship is a Divine Service because Jesus comes to be your Servant today. He comes to you in the same name He first came to you in your baptism. That day, Jesus came in water & word to wash you from all of your sins at the font. He comes today for the same reason, to cleanse you from your unrighteousness and to forgive your sins, even those of pridefully wanting to be greater than you are. In this way Jesus humbles Himself as the lowest servant washing even your feet to make you holy.

You yourself would also prefer to be the one with the authority. You desire to be the master, not the slave. You'd rather be the boss in charge than the low level employee to be bossed around. Face it, you embrace this world's way of determining greatness. Those with the most power, at the highest level are those who get all the credit for the success. They're labeled "good-workers", being in charge.

But don't be deceived. The one in authority is not the one most blessed. The waiter or waitress who serves you may appear to be "in charge", but you are the one blessed to lean back and eat a fine meal! A simple servant like Bartholomew fed thousands upon thousands with the Gospel word He preached as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus. You are likewise fed, week in and week out, with the message: "Jesus loves you, gave His life for you on the +, that by His death, you now have life!"

You still would rather be the leader than a simple follower. You'd prefer to be outspoken St. Peter taking charge among the 12 than to be a nobody like Bartholomew. Even our own district keeps on foolishly trying to make its pastors into the kind of leaders one finds in the corporate world. But repent of seeking out such leadership, for God has instead called Christians to be servants instead.

Bartholomew preached faithfully of the greatest Servant of all, Jesus. Jesus promised to come as the One Who is serving. He serves you with the greatest gift of all, His holy body given unto death at Calvary, and His precious blood shed for you from the +. He invites you to eat & drink upon His table in His kingdom, brought down from heaven to earth this day, that you eat His body & drink His blood for the forgiveness of your sins. Where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life & salvation.  

So on this day, you will not depart singing the praises of St. Bart. Instead, you are blessed to praise, honor & glorify Jesus Christ your Savior from sin, death & the power of the devil.  Because of the humble service of St. Bartholomew and others who have preached Christ-crucified for you, and who have through God's word & sacraments, have forgiven you, saved you, and given you life everlasting.

Hymns from LSB:

#877  God, Who Has Made the Earth and Heaven  stanzas  tune
#583  God Has Spoken by the Prophets  stanzas (click "Christian Worship" on the right)   tune
#518  By All Your Saints in Warfare: Saint Bartholomew  text  tune

1 By all Your saints in warfare,
For all Your saints at rest,
Your holy name, O Jesus,
Forevermore be blest!
For You have won the battle
That they might wear the crown;
And now they shine in glory
Reflected from Your throne.

(for St. Bartholomew, Apostle)

23 All praise for him whose candor
Through all his doubt You saw
When Philip at the fig tree
Disclosed You in the law.
Discern, beneath our surface,
O Lord, what we can be,
That by Your truth made guileless,
Your glory we may see.

3 Then let us praise the Father
And worship God the Son
And sing to God the Spirit,
Eternal Three in One,
Till all the ransomed number
Fall down before the throne,
Ascribing pow'r and glory
And praise to God alone.

Proper 10A Gospel: Matthew 13:1–9, 18–23

In that day Jesus, having gone out of the house was sitting along the sea; And great crowds came together to Him, so that, having entered a boat, He sat down. And all the crowd was standing upon the shore. And He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, "Look, the seed-planter went out to plant seeds. And in his seed planting, first, some fell along the path, and the birds came and consumed it. But next, some fell upon rocky places where it didn't have much earth; and immediately it sprouted; on account of not having much soil and the sun having risen, it was scorched and on account of not having root, it dried up. But then some fell upon the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it off. But finally some fell upon the excellent earth and gave fruit; some 100, others 60, and others 30. The one having ears--Hear!" 
 
Clearly, Jesus reveals His heavenly Father to be a crazy farmer in this story, at least by this world's standards. Anybody knows you put seeds into the best soil. But God the Father plants in the road, on rocks, and in thorny weed-patches. Non Christians read this story and figure our God is a whack-a-doodle. But you know better. You are believers in Christ Jesus, and you receive this story of Jesus by faith, trusting that God the Father knows exactly what He is doing, and that it's the best thing!

Now Jesus makes it plain that this isn't a story about seed-planting, exactly. It's about God the Father placing the seed of His word into people. But you also realize that you are not ordinary Christians. You are not generic protestants who hear "Word of God" and immediately think only of the "Bible". No, you are Lutherans, and you know that the promised "Seed" of Eve, and of Abraham is Jesus. You know that Jesus is the Word who became flesh and tabernacles with you. This seed/Word is Jesus planted.
 
You know also just how Jesus is planted in you. And just in case you forgot, Jesus reminds you. He says "The one having ears–hear!" Do you have ears? Then let those ears God created do their thing and listen as Jesus splains it to you Lucy, just what this parable means for you. This story is about people with ears, just like you. Some just won't listen. Some listen for a time, then stop for various reasons. But you keep on listening to Jesus; or at least you know you should. Sometimes you don't..
 
The first ear-problem is those whose ears work perfectly fine, but they refuse to listen. You are like this at times. You tune out your pastor on that topic from God that you don't care for. But there is grave danger in this, pun intended, for those who don't gain the insight God gives, lose its benefits! Those who think, "this message from Jesus just isn't for me" forfeit its blessings! They are like those for whom Jesus comes into one ear, but then right out the other. The devil has snatched such folks.
 
Though you stop your ears from hearing Jesus at times, God places His only-begotten Son in your ear anyway! Not because God is foolish, but because He is patient and persistent. Again and again God the Father offers His only-begotten Son to go right into you ear through the sacrament of Holy Absolution. "He who hears you, hears Me!" Jesus says. When your pastor proclaims your sin forgiven in the name of you Triune God, it is a sure and certain as if Jesus were speaking it into your ears Himself!
 
The second ear-problem is described with the next two sorts who start off hopefully, but don't last. These are the kinds of folk who shouted "Hosanna!" on Palm Sunday, only to join in on the "Crucify Him"s of Good Friday. You are this way at times yourself, believing while it is convenient, but wimping out when it comes at the cost of suffering a cross for your faith. You can be a fickle Christian, going as the wind blows, believing in fair weather, but falling away in bad. Worries & distractions make you fruitless.

Though God knows you doubt like Thomas or deny Him when the going gets tough like Peter, God plants the Word/Seed Jesus firmly into you anyway! Is God nuts? No. He is love, and kindly disposed to you even when you aren't so toward Him. This is why He baptized you, to cleanse you of your sinful fears and former unfaithfulness. He gives you Jesus at the font, to bless you with His death & rising, that each day, by baptismal repentance, sinful you drown & die, and new you arise to new life in Him!
 
God the Father gives the Word/Seed Jesus to die for the unloving & unfaithful because He wants all to be saved & come to know the truth. By the gift of faith, you have come to know Jesus your Savior, that by the Holy Spirit you keep on listening, keep on trusting in Jesus Who gave Himself up to death, the Seed planted in the tomb so that He might bear fruit. You are that fruit of Jesus. He makes you fruitful by His body given & blood shed for your forgiveness. He bears His Spirit's fruit in you now!

Second Sunday after the Epiphany John 1:29-42

On the next day, he (John) sees Jesus coming to him and says,"Look, the Lamb of God, the One taking away the sin of the world. This is on behalf of Whom I myself said, `After me comes a man Who before me is come to be, because before me, He was'. And I, myself didn't understand Him, but in order that He be shown to Israel, through this I myself came in water baptizing." And John testified, saying that, "I saw the Spirit coming down like a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. And I, myself didn't understand Him, but the One Who sent me to baptize in water, That One said to me, `Upon whomever you see the Spirit coming down & remaining upon Him, This is the One baptizing in the Holy Spirit.' And I, myself have seen & have testified that This is the Son of God!"  On the next day again John was standing and two of his disciples and he looked at Jesus walking; he says, "Look, the Lamb of God!" And his two disciples heard him speaking and they followed Jesus. And having turned, Jesus also seeing them following says to them, "What are you seeking?" And they said to Him, "My Great One, (which is to say, when interpreted, `Teacher') where are you staying?" He says to them,"Come and you will see." Then they came and saw where He stayed and alongside Him they stayed that day; the hour was about the 10th. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter was one of the two hearing from John and following Him; This one found first His own brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah, (which is interpreted `Christ')."  He brought him to Jesus.

Why aren't more people Christians? Why are there so many empty pews here today? How can we get more people as members, involved in our church? These are all really questions about "evangelism". But the answers vary throughout Christendom. Some place the burden on the shoulders of those who should be seeking for Jesus. Others answer that it's a burden on the ones who are already church members. But in today's Gospel, the answers to evangelism center on the gospel-giver–Christ Jesus!

People aren't church-going Christians because they don't know Jesus. Oh, they probably know the basics about Him. But they don't know Him, just like John the Baptized didn't know Him at first. They don't understand Who Jesus is for them. They don't comprehend just what Jesus does for them, Even you would remain ignorant of the saving knowledge of the Christ if God didn't do something to help.

So God sends proclaimers like John to testify about Jesus and Who He is. He sends preachers like John to witness to the things Christ accomplishes. Once John comprehended just Who Jesus was, he told people! Every week God gathers you all here to here this testimony about Jesus, your Messiah, anointed to be your Savior. You hear the witness, week in and week out, of Jesus the Christ and all that He does to save you by giving His life as forfeit on the cross, so that by His death you now have life!

People aren't yet church-going believers because, they are looking for love in all the wrong places. They are searching, but not finding. Some look to be comforted in human relationships, others by a bottle, and still others search for answers within themselves, but never find them. They need help! Without God's direction, even U2 would be saying, "We still haven't found what we are looking for." .

But God has helped you! He has given you that gospel invitation, "Come and see!" God used someone to bring you to Jesus for the first time. For most of you, He was revealed to you as the Christ, showing Himself as your anointed Savior when you were baptized. Just like John baptized in water to reveal Jesus to people, so too have you been baptized so Jesus could reveal His saving love to you. You are baptized into Jesus' death and resurrection, by His Holy Spirit to make you His Own!

People aren't yet church-attending Christians because, quite frankly, they haven't really looked at Jesus as they should. Oh, perhaps they have considered Him once or twice, but they really haven't looked *to* Him for what He truly is for them. Maybe they prefer to look to themselves, or trust in the temporary things of this world, rather than looking to Jesus. But nothing else is as reliable as He is.
 
This is why John says, not once, but twice here, "Look, the Lamb of God!" Jesus is that Lamb of God Who was sacrificed for all people. Like the Lamb butchered on the day of Atonement in the Old Testament whose shed blood freed the people from their sins each year, Jesus has taken away the sins of the world! His body given to death on the cross and His blood shed for you at Calvary forgive you your sins, replacing them with His Own righteousness. You eat this body and drink His blood today in His Supper!

Amen.

Hymns from LSB:

734  I Trust Oh Lord your Holy Name   (Listen through the prelude. The hymn with stanzas will follow)
402  The Only Son of Heaven     (same again)
404  Jesus, Once with Sinners Numbered
534  Lord Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor  stanzas  music 

Christmas I Matt. 2:13-23

And they (the wise men), having departed, look, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph according to a dream, saying, "Arise, take along the Child and His mother and flee into Egypt and stand there until whenever I speak to you; for Herod is about to seek for the Child to destroy it. And he arose and took along the Child and His mother at night and departed into Egypt, and was there until the end of Herod; in order that the utterance of the Lord through the prophet be fulfilled, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son."... And Herod, having come to his end, look an angel of the Lord appeared according to a dream in Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take along the child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for dead are those having sought the life of the child." And he arose, took along the child and His mother and went into the land of Israel. And having heard that Archeleus reigned in Judea in place of his father, Herod, he feared entering there; and being warned by revelation according to a dream, he left into the region of the Galilee, and he came, resided in a city called Nazareth; that would be fulfilled the utterance through the prophets, that he will be called a Nazarene.

People are vulnerable. They become ill, suffer and eventually die. Life on this earth is testament to this. Mary and Joseph had suffered a long, pregnant journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Now an amazing thing had happened. God has taken human flesh. He is now people like Mary, Joseph or you. God has become vulnerable. He's now kill-able. Jesus is now expendable.

So God the Father must protect His only-begotten Son by Joseph who is nothing but a dreamer. Like his name-sake from the Old Testament, Joseph dreamed. The first Joseph dreamed his eleven brothers would one day bow down to him, so they shipped him off, secretly to Egypt (without his colorful coat). Likewise, this New Testament Joseph was given a dream to likewise escape to Egypt. Coincidence?

The first Joseph's eleven brothers threw him in a pit, wanting to kill him. The second Joseph's life is also in danger, along with his wife Mary and step-son, Jesus. In both cases God rescued the by sending these dreamers into Egypt. The Israelites was led to come out of Egypt by Moses as they crossed the Red Sea. Now God's Own Son, Jesus, was called out of Egypt back to the land of Israel, once again.

But Jesus is God almighty! How can some wimpy king Herod chase the all-powerful God into Egypt? Because Jesus is God-made-vulnerable. As you are afflicted with sin and suffering, so Jesus came into this world to take your place, to be vulnerable, afflicted with your afflictions. Jesus is in the likeness of your flesh, though sinless, He becomes your sin at the cross bearing it's affliction of eternal death for you.

But that would be later on. Not when Jesus was just a young child. He would not die at Calvary until much later. So the devil's plan for Jesus' early death is thwarted by the Father. God delivers His Son from His enemies, to have vengeance upon them later. All those psalms of old that talk about God's deliverance from enemies are all about Jesus and how His heavenly Father would rescue him here.

Dream after dream, step by step, God reveals to Joseph (as head of household) how to protect Jesus until He's grown. Then the time comes for His vulnerability. God sent His Son, born of a woman to live under Law. That means He's able to be tempted, as Satan did his best for forty days in the wilderness, yet Jesus did not sin. He remained a perfect sacrifice on the cross to redeem you, who fails to keep God's law.

This redemption took place for Him on the cross, but for you it happened at your baptism. There the blessed trade took place, your sins washed from you, and the filthy flood from the font takes them to Jesus at Calvary. In exchange, you get Jesus holiness, His goodness, the Lord's Own righteousness credited to your account by faith! So your baptism becomes God's adoption of you into His heavenly family. You have all become sons of God, even you prettier ones, sons receiving God's inheritance.

Jesus humbled Himself to come down to earth to be vulnerable, kill-able, not as a child, but as your redemption price on the tree of Calvary. There He would become the ransom price to redeem you from sin, death and  the devil. You could not save yourself, or make yourself worthy of life eternal. Jesus did that for you at the price of His body given for you, and His blood shed for you for your forgiveness. Jesus makes Himself expendable for your sake, suffering your death that you have His life.
 
For He is a "Nazarene" as the prophets predicted. No, you won't find the word "Nazarene" in any Old Testament prophecy. But Jesus is from "Branch-town" which is what Nazareth means. He is that branch of Jesse's tree, sprouting up from that stump for you. Jesus is the genuine Vine from David's line into Whom you are grafted by His grace. He dies for you under the sign, "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." All according to God's plan, in His timing, this Branch from Jesse's tree is vulnerable, for you.

In the name of Christ,
Amen.

Christmas Day John 1:1-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was toward God, and God was the Word. This One was in the beginning toward God. All things through Him came to be, and without Him came to be not one thing which came to be; In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind; and the Light in the darkness shines and the darkness did not overtake it.   There came to be a human, sent on a mission from God, whose name--John. This one came for a witness, in order that he might witness concerning the Light, that all might believe through him. That one was not the Light, but that He might witness concerning the Light. The Light, the genuine one, which enlightens all mankind was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world through Him came to be, yet the world did not know Him. To His Own He came, and those who were His Own did not receive Him. But as many as did receive Him, He gave to them authority to become God's children, to those who believe into His Name. Ones, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but out of God were born!  And the Word came to be flesh and tabernacled in us, and we saw his glory, glory as the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
 
My very first day of confirmation class in 1978, Pastor Ginter wrote these words on the chalkboard. As a good student, I copied them down into my notebook, but I didn't have the foggiest notion what they meant. "In the beginning was the Word..." OK. But what word? Was it a single word or a whole sentence?  It must be a special word, since everything that exists came to be through this amazing word. And how exactly  was the word "light"? Was it on one of those newfangled computer screens? I was clueless.
 
It wasn't until the very end of the class, and hour and a half later that it finally began to click for me. The word became flesh and was with us on the earth. Folks saw this word's glory, begotten from His Father. I started to "get it". This mysterious Word was actually the Son of God–Jesus! Ever since that day, I haven't read the word "word" in the scriptures the same way. Now I see "Word" and always think "Jesus".
 
If you look on the front cover of your bulletin for today, the Greek "O Logos" is printed there. It means "The Word". Jesus is this word made flesh. He is God "incarnate". This incarnation is not about Americans driving down the interstate, but it is about the Word becoming flesh. Like meat-eaters are called "carnivores", Jesus is in-carn-ate, meaning to have meat on His bones–flesh. The Word by Whom God created everything, like when He said "Let there be light", had come down to the earth, in the flesh.
 
Now I know this is a bit of a challenge. Many of us hear "Word of God" and instantly think "The bible". While the bible is the book of God's words plural, the singular Word of God is always Jesus the Christ.  The words of God in scripture can only enlighten you because they are about the Word of God–Jesus. The words of holy writ can only bestow you life eternal because Jesus, the Word is your life!
 
The only reason that you recognize Jesus as the Word of life for you is because He has enlightened you to believe it. Many in the world remain in darkness, by their own choice. The temptations abound to think that you don't need Jesus, because you feel like you are already pretty good on your own. You have earthly parents, so why would you need a heavenly Father too? You've already been born into this world, so why should you want to be born another time to a heavenly life in the world to come?
 
People who think that they are already pretty enlightened folks are deceiving themselves. There is only one true, genuine light that can actually enlighten you. That light is Jesus! No matter how smart you think you are, no matter how high your IQ, no matter how much you have learned, no matter how well read you consider yourself to be, you remain in utter darkness without Jesus. But those who believe, receive Him and come to know Him as He is. The Word of God Who enlightens and gives life to all mankind!
 
You have been reborn, of water and the Word, Who is Jesus! Born anew in your baptism, you are raised up to new life in Jesus' Own resurrection. By this gift of God, He has given you special authority as children of your heavenly Father. Because of the Son of God–Jesus, Who died for you on the cross, you become a son of God. You believe in His name, the name into which you have been baptized!
 
But not only has the Word of God–Jesus, come to you to bring you into His heavenly Father's family through your baptism, but He also comes to you incarnate this day–in the flesh. Yes, the flesh and blood Jesus comes to you this Christmas morn to feed you from His feeding trough manger. He gives you His incarnate body to eat, and His blood to drink in the Lord's Supper. His flesh tabernacles in you today!