Advent II Matthew 3:1-12 How is it that YOU can make GOD'S path straight?

1st Lesson - Isaiah 2:1-5       Epistle - Romans 13:8-14        Gospel - Matthew 3:1-12

Gradual for Advent:  (Zechariah 9:9,  Psalm 118:26)

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem!

See! Your King comes to you, righteous and having salvation.

Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the LORD;

we have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

And in those days John the Baptizer came along proclaiming in the desert of Judea, saying "Repent for near--the kingdom of the heavens." For this is the one spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying, "A voice crying out in the desert; `Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight His paths!'"And this John had his garment from camel hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then, kept coming out to him Jerusalem and all the Judea and all of the region around the Jordan, And were baptized in the Jordan river by him confessing their sins. And seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, "Offspring of Vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Then, you do fruits worthy of repentance, And do not think to say in yourselves, `We have Father Abraham.' For I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And already the ax to the roots of the trees is laid; Then every tree which does not make good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. On the one hand, I myself baptize you in water into repentance, but on the other hand, One coming after me is stronger than I am, for Whom I am unworthy to carry sandals; This One will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire; Whose winnowing fork is in His hand and He will clean thoroughly his threshing floor and gather His grain into the barn; but the chaff He will burn up in unquenchable fire. 

With these words we have before us a tale of two trees. It was the best of times for the repentant trees. It was the worst of times for the unrepentant trees. Those trees that repented bore fruit from repentance. Those trees which refused to be changed by God in repentance bore no godly fruits. Repentant trees bore fruitful grain which God gathers into His barn on the last day. Unrepentant trees have no fruit at all–only chaff which will burn in the unquenchable asbestos hell-fire for eternity.

These trees are actually people. It's really a tale of two types of people. The first are convicted by God's law, and confess that they are indeed sinners who deserve punishment from God. God turns them from their sin to His grace in repentance, and they are baptized to wash away their sin. The second group, pharisees and Sadducees, are those who don't think they sin, don't see any need for change, and rebuff God's attempts to turn their hearts and minds away from their sin toward God.

So which group do you fall in? If you consider yourself a "good person", resist any change from your bad habits, expect God to welcome you into heaven because you are so great, then you are probably those resisting God's Spirit who wants to bring you to repentance. If you know that you are guilty of sin, sorry for breaking God's commandments, desperate for God to rescue from your sinful ways, then you are among those in whom God works repentance, turning you from sin to His grace in Jesus 

It is this gift and working of God called "repentance" which makes all the difference. Repentance prepares the Lord's way to you. Repentance makes Jesus' path straight for Him to come to you. Because repentance is something special. It is not just the guilt and sorrow you feel when you do the wrong thing. Judas felt that much, but ended up in hell. Repentance is also faith, which trusts in Jesus to remove your sins, guilt and all, and bear those sins in His Own body on the cross unto death.  

Repentance is so vital to your salvation that Luther listed it as the first and foremost of his 95 theses. He wrote that the entire life of the Christian would be one of repenting. Repenting isn't just something you do once, right before you "get saved". Repentance is God constantly turning you from sin, returning you to His grace in Christ Jesus. Repentance is a continual renewal of your heart and mind which God's Spirit works in you, conforming you to be more and more Christ-like in thoughts and feelings 

But this gift of repentance is not "of the Law". It's not something that you can do to straighten God's path to you. The pharisees and sadducees thought it was, trusting in their own self-righteousness. They became offspring of deadly snakes, nothing but dead trees to be burned in hell-fire. No, the law says do, and for you it remains ever un-done. The gospel says "it is finished", and by Christ, it truly *is*! God prepares His way to you in Jesus, Who comes to you in His means of grace for your salvation.

Jesus came to you in your own baptism, not unlike the baptism of John. Your baptism washed away your sins, cleansing you from all your unrighteousness. Jesus comes to you in the proclamation of the gospel which tells you the kingdom of heaven is at hand in the person of the King, Christ Jesus Who died and rose for your salvation. Jesus comes to you when you confess your sins, receiving His absolution from your pastor. Jesus comes to you with His body given and blood shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. And you know that where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is also... 

Amen.

Hymns from LSB:

#343  Prepare the Royal Highway! music  

#344  On Jordan's Bank the Baptist's Cry

#333  Once He Came in Blessing

#347  Comfort, Comfort, Ye my People

   

ADVENT I Matthew 21:1-11 "OK, So who moved Palm Sunday to December?"

And when they came near unto Jerusalem and came into Bethphage into the mountain of the Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples on a mission, saying to them, "You go into the village, the one across from you, and immediately you will find, tied, a donkey and a colt with her; having loosened, you lead to me. And if ever anyone to you may say anything, you will say that the Lord has need of them; and immediately he will send them on a mission. And this happened in order that the spoken word through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Look, your king comes to you, gentle and mounted upon a donkey, even upon a colt, a son of a beast of burden.'" And the disciples went, and did just as Jesus had instructed them; they brought the donkey and the colt and placed on them the garments, and He sat upon them. And much of the crowd spread their garments in the way, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading in the way. And the crowds, the ones going before Him, and the ones following after were saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed– the One coming in the Name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" And He, having entered into Jerusalem all the city was shaken, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowd was saying, "This is the prophet Jesus, the one from Nazareth of the Galilee." 

Happy New Year!

"Um, Pastor. It's December 1st, not January 1st. You're a month early." But the church's new year begins today with Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. "Pastor, you've got it wrong. That's Palm Sunday". But in the restored lectionary, it is returned to where it belongs, on the first day of the church year. For Advent means "arrival", and salvation arrived in Jerusalem.

So what does Jesus riding a donkey have to do with Advent, which focuses on Jesus' last day return? We must go back to the days of Israel's kings. On his deathbed, David instructed his son Solomon to ride into Jerusalem on his own royal steed. The man whose name meant "peace" entered the city for his coronation. This is a type of the Prince of Peace riding on a donkey to die as King of the Jews.

As Solomon's ancient ride foreshadowed Jesus' Palm Sunday, that day is also a type, prefiguring His return to earth on the last day to judge. As Jesus comes down in the clouds you are snatched up to meet Him in the air, to descend and remain with Him through the final judgment. As the citizens  went out to usher Jesus into the first Jerusalem, so too will you meet and follow Him to the New Jerusalem.

History repeats itself, and that's a good thing. As Nathan the prophet, Zadok the high priest, and the people gathered to welcome Solomon saying, "Long live King Solomon!", so the crowds met Jesus in His day with shouts of, "Hosanna in the highest!" Hosanna means "save us!". But you won't be making any such exclamations when Jesus returns on Judgment Day. For He is already raised to everlasting life. He has already saved you from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.

You might shout as they did on Palm Sunday, "Blessed–the One coming in the Name of the Lord!" For Jesus is truly the blessed One, from whom all blessings flow. He has already blessed you with salvation, having redeemed you by His blood sacrifice at Calvary. He came to you not as a king of war, but one of peace. Meek, gentle, He came to offer Himself unto death for you, as His riding of a young donkey instead of a war-horse foretold. He is the lamb led to slaughter in silence, for you.

Jesus came once before as your salvation, into Jerusalem where He sacrificed His life to save you. He comes again in triumph at the last day to usher in His heavenly kingdom on earth–paradise restored. So don't get caught up in all the false rapture theories. Jesus isn't coming invisibly to snatch folks from behind the driver's seat of their car. That's nonsense. He who ascended once in the clouds comes back the same way He left to complete His as-of-yet unfinished kingdom of God.

This is why you pray, "Thy Kingdom Come." It has come to you, in your heart by grace thru faith. You have received the righteousness of Jesus in blessed exchange for your sin Jesus bore at Calvary. You have been washed clean in the waters of your baptism, nourished by Jesus' body and blood, and comforted by the gospel. Your spirit and soul are saved, but your body of flesh still may taste death.

Yet your salvation is nearer  than when you first believed, because as each day passes, the last day looms closer. On that day, the Spirit will raise all flesh, and your body will be made glorious as Jesus' Own body is! When Jesus returns your body, soul, mind and spirit will all be saved, and the Kingdom of God will be complete! For this we pray, Blessed–the One Who comes in the name of the Lord! Amen.

.Hymns from LSB:

#335  O Bride of Christ, Rejoice  stanzas  music
#332  Savior of the Nations Come stanzas  music
#516  Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying!
#331  The Advent of our King

Reformation Romans 3:19-28

And now, separate from Law, a justice of God is revealed still, witnessed by the Torah and the Prophets, and a righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ, into all the ones believing. For there is no difference, for all miss the mark and lack the reflected-glory of God, being made righteous–a gift in His grace through the ransoming–the one in Christ Jesus; Whom God placed before–an appeasement through faith in His blood, into a sign-of-proof of His righteousness, through the letting go of sins unpunished which were done before; in the holding back of God, to the sign-of-proof 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. Therefore, we calculate a man to be made righteous in faith, separate from works of Law.

The central question of the Reformation was that of orthodox teaching. Was the Roman church of Luther's day teaching truth, or did the bible teach the truth? This was, and remains the critical question for evaluating any church or preacher. For teaching must be "orthodox" which means quite literally "giving God the proper glory". So Martin Luther posted his 95 theses in hopes of debating what church practices gave Jesus the right glory. His main question was about selling "indulgences".

The question may have begun about whether forgiveness and complete pardon for sins was for sale, but it soon became a matter of whether man could do a single thing to earn, merit, or make himself worthy of God's grace. Did you have to strive and struggle to be righteous first to find God's favor, or was God already gracious to you because of Jesus? From his extensive study of God's Word, Luther learned that the righteousness of God was a free gift, which came to a believer by faith alone.

Now, this Reformation mantra, "Faith alone" is not found in today's text, although it is implied, as it is a faith which is apart from works. In Luther's German translation of this text, he inserts a technical old German term for "alone" to make it clear to those speaking that language that man is righteous "alone, by faith". No works of law obedience are required for you to be righteous in God's sight! It is a gift!

But your old Adam in your flesh doesn't want to believe it. Salvation must be earned! It is so valuable that it must cost dearly! It seems to you, at times, to cheapen the whole process if redemption comes to you freely, by faith, and even that faith is a gift and working of God in you. You want to show yourself to be deserving of such a blessing. So you strive, struggle and strain, and then boast about it to others.

But bragging is excluded. What? There's no commandment against it! But it is excluded just the same. For there is no one who deserves to be saved. You have all sinned like Adam and Eve, and you all have lost that image of God which once reflected His glory. You are all in the same boat. You could boast, "look at me, I'm a good Christian" but you'd be lying, and everyone knows it. No, all bragging is excluded by the law of faith. God made you a believer and gifted you with His righteousness freely.

This is seen clearly at your baptism. You were conceived and born a sinner, in need of much help. So God washed your sins from you that day, but He didn't leave your heart empty. Your sins were deposited on Jesus at the cross where He died your death there. Yet Jesus' Own holy goodness He gave up for you at Calvary--His righteousness given to you as a free gift to make you worthy of eternal life! Your baptism is a sign of the proof of God's righteousness, through Christ Jesus your Savior.

This comes to you also at the Lord's Supper. Jesus, your "propitiation" is your atoning sacrifice appeasing God's wrath as the sacrificial lambs of old. He passes over the sins you did before as the true Passover Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. He is the mercy seat, covering over the commandments in the ark of the covenant, with His shed blood poured out for your salvation. His body given and His blood shed for you are another sign of the proof of His righteousness for you!

Through word and sacrament, God Himself makes you orthodox, that you too be of the proper glory, just as God Himself is. Your own self-righteous attempts fail to bring you any lasting glory, falling short. But your glorious God–Christ Jesus, gives up His Own holy righteousness at Calvary for you. God's glory is now reflected in you by the righteousness of Jesus, credited to your account by faith! The glory of Christ alone is now your own glory, as the image of God is restored to you in Jesus! This is the orthodox teaching of God, from His Word, for it gives Christ all the glory for your salvation!

Amen

hymns for today from LSB:
#556  Dear Christians One and All Rejoice!
#656   A Mighty Fortress
#555  Salvation Unto Us has Come  all 10 stanzas
#655  Lord Keep Us Steadfast in You Word   stanzas
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Proper 21 1 Timothy 3:1-13

And a battle took place in heaven, the battle of Michael and his angels with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels battled, and they were not strong, nor was there a place found for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient snake, the one called "devil" and "the accuser", the one deceiving the entire habitation was thrown down onto the earth, and his angels with him. And I heard a great sound in heaven, saying, "Now happens the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ, because thrown down–the indicter of our brothers, the one indicting them before our God, day and night. And these conquered him through the blood of the Lamb and through the word of His witness, and they did not love their lives with God's love until death. Through this you rejoice, heavens and those tabernacling in them. Woe: the earth and the sea, because the devil comes down to you, having great anger, knowing that he has a little season.

"Woe to you, O earth and sea, because the devil sends his beasts with wrath, because he knows the time is short!" "Woe to the world because of it's death-traps...woe to that man through whom the death-trap comes!" Such woes effect us as they do a horse, slowing and stopping us to ponder the graveness (pun intended) of these words. Woe means deadly danger.(Will Robinson) The death Satan wants is the eternal one--hell.

But what of the battle Michael and his angels won? By this defeat, the devil was cast from heaven, it is true, no longer a claim to a thing in God's kingdom. But that snake didn't fall to hell, unfortunately, but to earth, where that wily serpent tempted Eve and Adam in the garden. Since causing our fall, this world became Satan's princedom. His woes abound; death and despair reign here. He accuses: "You deserve hell!"  And you do.

The devil is on the attack against you because you have been baptized. Satan doesn't bother with atheists, heathens, and others who don't belong to God. But you have been named with God's name. At your baptism God claimed you as His very own dear child. But this has marked you in Satan's sight. It has placed a target on your back for him to aim at. And because you sin, his accusations tend to hit home.

But in your baptism you have a protection against the devil's attacks! You are redeemed by Christ the crucified at the font! You belong to God now because of the ransom price Jesus paid for you on the cross. Satan cannot snatch you from God's almighty Hand, which is Jesus! At the name of the Triune God into which you were baptized, the devil is exorcised from your midst, since Jesus defeated Him at the cross. When he accuses you of your unworthiness to be God's child, seeking to get you to jump out of God's hand, say, "Satan, hear this proclamation: I am baptized into Christ; drop your ugly accusation, I am not so soon enticed!"

Satan accuses you because, quite frankly, you have been guilty of many sins. The devil is the DA in the divine courtroom, indicting you of the various crimes you've committed against God's Law. You haven't loved God with your entire heart. You haven't loved your neighbors as much as you've loved yourself. Not just you, but he indicts all your brothers in Christ too. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You have no defense of your own. You are guilty as sin–literally. You deserve the woes of hell.

But you have an unlikely Witness Who comes to your defense. It's your own Lawyer, Jesus Who advocates for you in His testimony. He takes the stand and declares, "though you've done the crime, I've already done your time!". Satan is stunned. Because at Calvary, Jesus enacted a blessed exchange for you. He took your sins as His burden, bearing them in His Own body on that tree and suffering the curse of hell in your stead, there. In trade, He gives you His Own holy righteousness, credited to your account freely, by faith, so that as He has died, you now live!

The devil attacks the church for the same reason He attacked Jesus–because the Church is the Body of Christ. The ruler of angels Who is the likeness of God Himself kicked that nasty dragon out of heaven long ago. Satan seeks his revenge on Christ. He tried to kill baby Jesus soon after He was born, then entered Judas to betray the Lord. Since Jesus ascended, now Satan attacks the Church.

But your confidence remains in the Body of Christ. For now is the salvation, power and kingdom of our God. Today Jesus feeds you with His very body given for you in death on the cross, and gives you His blood shed at Calvary for you to drink. You are what you eat, after all. As believers in Christ, you are blessed to be forgiven in this sacrament. And you know that where there is the forgiveness of sins for you, there is also life and salvation. Satan is conquered for you through the blood of the Lamb–Jesus Christ.

Jesus at the cross kept that ancient promise to Eve that her Seed would strike the death-blow upon the head of that ancient serpent. Through this, you now rejoice, because, as much as Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven, you now live there, tabernacling in Christ, a child of God whose angel keep on gazing upon the face of your Father in heaven, keeping you connected to God forevermore, through word and sacrament.

 Amen. 

Proper 20 Pentecost I Timothy 2:1-15

So I appeal to you first of all to make entreaties, prayers, requests, thanksgivings on behalf of all humanity, on behalf of kings and all those being in high places, so that a peaceful and quiet life we may lead in all godliness and reverence. This–good and pleasing before our Savior–God, Who wants all humanity to be saved and into recognition of all truth to come. For one God, even one Mediator of God and humanity, a human–Christ Jesus, Who gave Himself a ransom on behalf of all, the witness  at the proper season. Unto this I myself was placed a proclaimer and an Apostle, I speak truth, not falsehood, a teacher of nations, in faith and in truth. So I want the husbands in all places to pray, raising devout hands without anger and argument. In the same manner wives in respectable clothing with modesty and moderation to adorn themselves, not in braids and gold and pearls, or clothing which costs much, but what fits women promised to godliness–through good works. A wife in silence learns in all subjection. And I do not permit a wife to teach nor have authority over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam–first to be created, then Eve. And Adam wasn't deceived, yet the wife was deceived, in transgression became. Yet they will be saved through the child-bearing, if ever remaining in faith and God's love and holiness with reasonableness.  

God wants all humanity to be saved and recognize the truth that Christ is the Savior of all. So Jesus teaches a weird parable about an unfaithful manager whose shrewdness is actually praised.His deception isn't commended, but his making of friends for his future is worthy of kudos. Jesus instills in us the same prudence to make future friends above. You are to store up folks as treasures in heaven.

So Paul insists that what you do matters. Not that it scores points with God, but it blesses your neighbor. You should pray for people, care about how you behave in your own household, because how you act effects others. If a wife berates her husband in bible class, how would that appear to a curious onlooker? If a husband won't even pray for the President, how does that sound to a visitor?

So in how you pray, by how you behave, and even in what you wear, you might just be making friends for eternity. Yet you think, "these people don't pray for me, so why should I pray for them?" Or, "My spouse doesn't subject himself to my needs, so why should I subject myself to his? Or, "People nowadays don't care how they look, so why should I care how I appear to them? Not the right attitude.

Jesus didn't think that way. What if He said, "You don't pray to Me much, so why should I save you?" or "You don't accept where I've placed you on earth, so why should I let you into heaven?" But He doesn't act like you. His good and gracious will is to save you, regardless of your bad attitude and conduct. So He has your pastor, week in and week out proclaim this truth to you: Jesus loved you so much that He forfeited His life as the ransom price to save you at Calvary! You acknowledge this truth by faith.

God has called you from the darkness of this sinful world to the marvelous light of this gospel promise. It promises you unto your godliness and reverence. But your attitude isn't always so reverent, is it? Nor is your behavior always so godly. Your desire to show of who you are and share what you think sadly overshadows what God desires, and who He has made you to be in Christ.

Though you are stuck in the same sin into which Eve and Adam fell, God has rescued you from it all. You have been saved through child-bearing, in particular, one child born of a virgin. The baby Jesus came into this world to be your Savior in the flesh, to one day sacrifice Himself for you. He gave His body unto death and shed His blood for your forgiveness. You eat the body and
drink the blood of your Savior in the Lord's Supper. In this way you remain in God's love, in the holiness of His  forgiveness.

Jesus says that you can even make friends with mammon which is in-and-of-itself unrighteous. But what do you do with all your mammon? You spend money on electronic gadgets that are outdated in a few months. You buy fancy clothing, jewelry, and hair products to make you look as up on the latest trends as everyone else. But this helps nobody but your own self. Repent of such mammon serving.

Instead, God has given you all your stuff to use in the most godly ways. It's given to you for a purpose, so that others may be blessed, even unto eternity! God once blessed you with the simplest stuff–water. It, with God's word, washed you clean of all your transgressions, and made you a new creation in Christ. At your baptism, God made you anew, now a holy, reverent, godly person where a former unrighteous person used to be. He gave you faith there, in which you remain in God's love.