Presentation of Our LORD - Preached February 2, 2014 at St. Paul Dewberry, IN and Resurrection Centerville, IN

 

Sermon Text:      Luke 2:22-40

Title:          Tune Changing 101

 

I.        The song of Simeon – for many years – had been one of lament.

II.       The song of Simeon on this day turned to a song of praise and   thanksgiving.

THROUGH THE CROSS OF CHRIST OUR SONGS ARE TRANSFORMED FROM ONES OF SORROW AND DESPAIR TO ONES OF GREAT JOY AND HOPE.

 

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from…

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

          ²⁹       “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,

according to your word;

          ³⁰       for my eyes have seen your salvation

          ³¹       that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

          ³²       a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory to your people Israel.”

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

I remember when I was growing up, sometimes I would get out of line – I know, hard to believe isn’t it? Sometimes I would be fussing about one thing or another, or I would have a sour attitude and become sassy. My grandma, who I called Meema, watched my younger brother and me a lot growing up. And when my brother or I would get that kind of an attitude I could count on most likely being told one of two things – I better shape up or ship out [my grandpa – Peepa – had been in the navy after all!]. The other one was that I had better change my tune or things weren’t going to get much better, and actually far worse. Being a boy I often times found out what far worse was more than I care to admit.

Have you ever heard that phrase – you better change your tune? I am not sure where it comes from and it probably really doesn’t matter – because we all know what it means. It means that if we know what’s good for us we had better change our attitude or we were likely to find that things were indeed going to get far worse.

In today’s text we find ourselves in the crowded temple of Jerusalem, and in this mass of people we bump into Simeon – a righteous man in the sight of GOD and filled with the Holy Spirit. He was a very old man of Israel and probably spent most of his days in and around the temple preaching and prophesying and singing hymns to GOD and for His people.

If we were there any other day than today we might hear Simeon singing softly a lament for Israel – sorrowful songs of longing to throw off the yoke of the tyranny and slavery of sin. In our text today St. Luke writes…

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. [Luke 2:25]

Here sits this old man against one of the walls of the temple.  He wears dirty, wrinkled and tattered clothes, worn out sandals that have seen many miles of walking the dusty roads of Jerusalem. This ancient man’s dress and demeanor betray his years and personify the songs he sings – of longing for the consolation of his people.

 

Why such a sad tune? First of all Simeon knows his Torah – his Old Testament.  He knows that sin came into the world through Adam and Eve and has been passed down from generation to generation across time like some festering, sickly disease that can’t seem to be eradicated. He knows just as Adam had it – so does he. 

But Simeon – this old and wizened man of Israel – knows that the Torah doesn’t stop there with Adam’s sin. He knows the Promise of the LORD – a Savior from this plight, a cure for this disease, a wrong made right, an answer to their pleas.

So although at times Simeon’s song is one of hope – many times it is one of weeping and longing for salvation from this dreadful place. And this is where we find Simeon today – in the choking dust of Jerusalem wearily resting his tired body against a wall of the temple…

 

II.

…and then Simeon – filled with the Holy Spirit – sees this young man and his wife carrying a Baby and Simeon’s eyes fill with tears.  For as St. Paul tells us [1 Corinthians 12:3] and Simeon proves it – being filled with the Holy Spirit he calls Jesus LORD.

And Simeon’s tune changes. Suddenly are gone the sad and sorrowful tunes and they are replaced with shouts of Hosanna and songs of joy. And the LORD above gives us a truly tremendous gift here in Luke chapter two.  The LORD gives us the song of Simeon…

          29     “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,         according to your word;

          30     for my eyes have seen your salvation
          31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
          32     a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? It should – it’s been a part of our liturgy in the Lutheran Church as far back as I can remember. And even though I am not as old as Simeon that’s saying something!  It’s a beautiful hymn of praise and thanksgiving for the wonderful gift our Father in Heaven has bestowed on us His dear children.

But given our sinful nature no matter how hard we try to change are tunes with GOD it always comes back sour and out of tune. We keep trying to hit the right notes but just can’t make it happen – and instead wind up sounding like the worst of the failed American Idol contestants. 

 

It takes Jesus and His Cross where He died for us to save us from our sin – here is where we have a tune change.  Here in the Cross of Christ is where the Maestro comes in and painfully writes a symphony in His own blood – allowing us to be a part of this Heavenly song.

 

And all though Jesus gives us the power to be a part of this Heavenly song we still get woefully out of tune and without a special righting of our instruments we would be hopelessly lost. But that special righting of our instruments comes in the way of Christ and His salvation by means of His Word and Baptism and Holy Communion. These are applied to us through Christ and get us adjusted and back into tune – daily.

 

So you see - we really don't change our tunes at all - Christ does all of the changing of our tunes. And then Christ through His blood shed on the Cross for us, gives us – through the power of His Holy Spirit , a song to sing – a song of praise and adoration for our forgiveness and salvation found only in Him. Amen.

 

The Peace of the LORD – which surpasses all understanding – will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Light of the world.  Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Epiphany 3 [Series A] preached January 26, 2014 at St. Paul Dewberry, Indiana

Sermon Text:      Matthew 4:12–25

Title:          The Great Light

I.        We have been kept in darkness through our sinning.

II.       However – a Great Light has overcome the darkness.

THE LIGHT OF JESUS SHINES FORTH – SHINING THE LIGHT OF SALVATION INTO THE WORLD.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from the Gospel lesson…

Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of  Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

15 “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— 16 the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

The dark…what is it about darkness that frightens us?  There are many reasons.  We can’t see what is out there in the darkness with us.  We feel out of control.  We feel alone.  We feel afraid.

 

I remember when I was young being afraid of the dark.  My younger brother and I shared a room upstairs at my Mom and Dad’s.  Our room was the only room on the second floor, that and the attic which had a door into our room.  Every other room was downstairs to include the other people of the house, meaning Mom and Dad.  Every night I can remember turning on the hall light and going up the stairs to go to bed.  We would run past the window in the landing for fear of what might be looking in at us from the dark.  And we’d jump into our beds leaving the hall light on - our security in the darkness.

But it isn’t limited to being a kid is it?  I remember going camping a few years ago.  We were tenting it and I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I unzipped the tent, turned on my flashlight and began walking toward the bathroom.  Just as I set foot on the road a terrible screech cut through the still night air, followed by another.  The screams were flying down the length of the road right toward me.  The sounds were unnerving.  And I remember walking a little faster toward the bathroom thinking the light from my flashlight seemed very small and very insignificant. 

I am sure many of you have similar stories to tell of darkness in your lives.  And we all can tell stories of the spiritual darkness in our lives as well can’t we?  For we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of the Father.  And it is in this perpetual blackness, this inky darkness that we find ourselves without Christ. 

But before the Holy Spirit has entered our hearts, whether through the Word or through Holy Baptism, before we know the Light of Christ, it’s hard to believe – but we love the dark.  What Adam and Eve would have given to have the darkness of a cave around them to hide from the LORD in the Garden of Eden. 

We too seek a darkness of hiding, a place where we can hide from the LORD.  It is also a place where we feel at home in our sin there in the dark.  And as we move about in this darkness we are ever seeking to go deeper and deeper into the darkness of our sins.  The shadow of original sin is on our faces and the actual sins we commit each and everyday drives us further and deeper into that darkness. 

 

We love it in the dark!  We can do what we want, when we want, how ever we want.  We can speak anyway we want to whomever we want.  We can trash our neighbors.  We can sleep with whomever we want, whenever we want.  We can sleep in on Sundays.  We can chose to not volunteer for projects or offices at church.  We can take a vacation from church in the summer.  We can place money, possessions, things, and people before our LORD.  We can break all of the commandments.  We can do whatever we want.  And in doing so we plunge ourselves ever further into the darkness of our sin - truly into the darkness of the devil and hell itself.  Yes, we LOVE the dark…

 

II.

And yet, even as we find ourselves in the darkness of eternal death, someone comes to us in our despair.  Jesus, the Great Light of the world comes to us, and rescues us. 

St. Matthew writes…

 

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.

 

He casts His blessed light in our direction and shows us our sins.  And just has Christ was that Pillar of Light to the Children of Israel in the wilderness, here in our own wilderness of darkness Jesus once again shines forth and leads the way.  He shines His light, the Light of heaven upon us to lead us out of this darkness and into His marvelous light.  Jesus the Light says to us…

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And through the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to – for the first time ever – call Jesus LORD [1 Corinthians 12:3] and repent of our wicked ways and seek the Light.  We turn to the LORD, away from a life of sinning and being a slave to sin, and we are bathed in the Light of the LORD. 

Through the Light of Christ we are exposed and in this Great Light we see two things.  One – our wretchedness and utter despair found in our sins.  Two – the way out of this wretchedness and despair and sin – the Cross of Christ.  There crucified for us is our Savior  - the Lamb of GOD – the Sacrifice to end all sacrifices.  Christ nailed to a Cross to forgive us our sins.

 

So in this Great Light we see our sin and our need for a Savior and how that saving is accomplished for the entire world!  So how do we go about getting that forgiveness? 

 

Right here in this church is the answer to that question – and that question is asked every week and answered every week. This forgiveness is distributed through the Word and through Holy Baptism and through the very Body and Blood of our LORD Jesus Christ – all for the forgiveness of our sins.

 

Through these we are forgiven and now that Light of Jesus begins to shine through us so that we may through our lives lived to Christ begin to point others to this marvelous Light. We become the reflective Light of Christ.  For Christ is the true Light.  It’s like the Sun and the Moon.  The Moon gives off now light of its own but reflects the light of the Sun.  We – through our Baptized and reclaimed lives in Christ begin to reflect His Light into the world.

 

Christ’s Cross is very much like a lighthouse which shines its light out into the gloom of storm and sea to guide ships safely home.  Jesus’ Cross is just that – a beacon of true Heavenly Light shining out into the darkness of the world to guide us to our Heavenly home. We have been called out of the darkness of the devil and brought into the Light of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit where we will remain forever and ever.

 

It is good to be in the Light of the LORD where we see things like never before - that is we see our Savior Jesus Christ the salvation He brings through His healing death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  Amen.

The Peace of the LORD – which surpasses all understanding – will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus the Light of the world.  Amen.

 

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

A Sermon... Epiphany 2 [series A] preached 01.19.14 at St. Paul Dewberry, IN and Resurrection Centerville, IN

Sermon Text:      John 1:29-42

Title:          The Lamb of GOD

I.        Lambs’ blood saved the children of Israel

II.       THE Lamb’s blood saves the world.

BEHOLD! THE LAMB OF GOD
WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The sermon text for this Sunday, is taken from The Gospel lesson just read.  I would read again a portion of these verses…

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I.

Some of you may remember a movie from the 90s entitled Multiplicity starring Michael Keaton better known for playing Batman the first time around and Mr. Mom. 

In the movie Multiplicity Keaton plays a character who is married, has a couple of kids and is a foreman for a successful construction company. His company happens to be constructing a building for a lab that is on the cutting edge of cloning. Keaton’s character winds up getting cloned to help him make ends meet with his wife, his children and his job. We’ve all been there wishing we had another pair of hands!

This clone – called One – taps into the more masculine side of Keaton’s character and takes over the work side of things. Keaton’s character and One decide they need more help. So Keaton goes back and has another clone – Two – and Two taps into the more feminine side. Two begins to take care of things around the house.  One and Two decide that THEY need more help and so they go back to the lab – without Keaton’s character or his permission – and have a clone made of One – his name is Three.

Three is about as dumb and useless as it gets. Why? Two explains that when you make a copy of a copy it comes out a little ‘fuzz.’

The premise of the movie is that even the copies of the original were truly only a shadow of that original and in the end Keaton’s character realizes he will be the one to set things right in his life – not the copies. The original had to do it

So what does all of this have to do with our text today? Why all this talk of originals and copies? Is this a sermon or a film lesson? Rest assured – it is indeed a sermon!

In our text today St. John the Baptist cries out…

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

Why? Why does this prophet of the New Testament say this when he sees Jesus approaching the Jordan River? Why a Lamb? Why not a giraffe, an elephant or a lion? As always – there is a reason and a purpose behind everything GOD says and does. And here in our text this morning there is much reason and purpose behind John’s words.

So we must do a little digging to find out the meaning of John’s words. And not unlike Indiana Jones – trying to stick with the movie theme – we find ourselves digging for clues among the Hebrews of the Old Testament.

Where do we find ourselves? Smack dab in the middle of Egypt at the end of the ten plagues.  After water turning to blood and frogs and gnats and flies and dead livestock and boils and hail and locusts and darkness, Charlton Hestand – I mean Moses – I guess I got the movie theme stuck in my head – writes in the book of Exodus...

So Moses said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, 5 and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. 6 There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. 7 But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ [Exodus 11:4-7]

Did you catch that? The LORD says through Moses that He makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.  So we are getting somewhere aren’t we?  We are getting close to discovering the clue that will help us understand John’s words.

Moses – after being instructed by the LORD – writes…

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. 24 You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. 25 And when you come to the land that the LORD will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ 27 you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’ ” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped. [Exodus 12:21-27]

So the blood of each unblemished lamb is taken and smeared across the top of the doorway and on either side to let the Angel of Death know that this house belongs to GOD and should not be entered.  So the blood of these lambs saves the Children of Israel?  For now – yes.

II.

So how do we make those ends meet? How do we draw a connecting line between these lambs of the Old Testament Passover and the phrase from our text today calling Jesus the Lamb of GOD?

First – you are going to make a little visit to the Seminary this morning and learn a way of looking at Holy Scripture that may have never been explained to you before. 

Remember Michael Keaton’s character and all of the copies? There is a way of looking at these and that is through the eyes of a theologian. Keaton’s character – the original – is called the Antitype. Each copy is called a type of the original one. All this means is that the types are not quite the original – and we call the original the Antitype meaning that it’s is not a copy or a type – but the original.

These types and Antitype are all over the Bible. There are several in the texts today – but we will examine only two of these. Moses is a type of Christ – meaning he acts or functions in the Old Testament in a way that is similar to the way Jesus does in the New Testament. Another way of saying this is that Moses foreshadows in an imperfect way what the LORD will do for His people in a perfect way through the Messiah – meaning Jesus.

There is another type of Christ in the Exodus readings – do you know what it is? I’ll give you a hint – it’s our last clue to discovering the meaning of the words of John in our text. Yes – the lambs of the first Passover are a type of Christ. Through their blood smeared on the doorposts they foreshadow Jesus’ death on the Cross. Jesus blood will be shed on the wood of the Cross just like those doors in Egypt.

You see folks to be saved from death means something or Someone else has to die in our place. For the Children of Israel countless unblemished lambs had to die in order for the first born in each household to be saved.

And on the Cross, Jesus – the Lamb of GOD as St. John the Baptist rightly calls Him in our text today – goes beyond a few doors in Egypt.  Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ – Jesus’ blood shed on the Cross covers the door of every person on the planet – past, present and future.

You see, it takes the Original – not a copy, not the type – but the Antitype to get the job done. The copies couldn’t do it in the movie, and Moses sure can’t do it in the Bible.  It takes the blood of the Lamb of GOD to take away the sin of the world. Thanks be to GOD that blood is spread across the doorposts of our hearts – saving each and every one of us from the Angel of Death – and in fact granting us the opposite of what we deserve. We deserve death but we receive Life through Christ Jesus the Lamb of GOD Who takes away the sin of the world! Amen.

The peace of the LORD – which surpasses all understanding – will keep your heart and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +