Sermon for Epiphany 4: "A War of Words"

 + 4^th Sunday after the Epiphany – January 28^th, 2024 +

Series B: Deuteronomy 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 8; Mark 1:21-28

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

 

“Enemy occupied territory – that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church you are really listening in to the secret radio from our friends: that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 46)

 

Although C.S. Lewis wrote those famous words back in 1941, they still ring true today. 

After all, we are at war. Not political, germ, or cyber warfare. St. Paul writes that… we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age. It is a war of words and a war of worlds. A war of God’s Word of truth versus the lies of Satan. A cosmic battle between good and evil. 

 

From the outset of Mark’s Gospel, this battle ensues. Jesus is led by the Spirit out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, where He overcomes the devil in the opening salvo. 

 

And again, several verses later in Mark 1, Jesus is in Capernaum. In the synagogue. On the Sabbath day. Teaching with authority. The authority that is his from all eternity now revealed in his word and teaching and in casting out an unclean, evil spirit.

 

This synagogue in Capernaum was a battleground. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. 

 

Knowing who is present in this synagogue, the unclean spirit dares to speak. He cried out,  saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”

 

Up until this point, the people hearing Jesus’ teaching have been amazed at his authority. Now, as the demon speaks, they find themselves on the front lines of a cosmic battle. It is a battle of words and of worlds. And at first it appears that the unclean spirit has the upper hand. A man is possessed. The unclean spirit speaks. Demanding Jesus leave him. Making a claim that this man and this synagogue belonged to the unclean spirits. 

 

So it seems for us in this world too, doesn’t it. So often we witness great evil in the world and see the wickedness of men; we see our own sinful thoughts, words, and deeds, and it sure looks like the darkness is too deep. The enemy is too strong. It’s tempting to think the devil has won. And if the battle were up to us, if we fought with our feeble strength and weapons, that would be true. 

 

But for us fights the valiant one. No sooner had the unclean spirit spoken, than Jesus unsheathed the sword of his own authoritative word. Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”

 

Jesus is more than a man from Nazareth. More than a teacher with authority. He is the cosmic Christ. This is His synagogue. These are His people. His rule is over all things, visible and invisible. His power is without equal. He has come into this world to fight against Satan and to defeat him. He will set free all the people Satan claims as his own.

 

Jesus tells the demon to “shut up and come out of him.” And he does. He doesn’t want unclean spirits preaching who He is. Even though what they say about him is true, it is truth in service of the Lie. Jesus is the Holy One of God, this is true. But He knows and the devil knows that this can be used in all the wrong ways by people who want to exploit Jesus for their own purposes and power. Jesus is the Holy One of God come to die. He is the Holy One of God come to do battle with Death and Sin and devil. He is the Holy One of God who not only drives the demons from people but who casts out the devil from this world. And gives you his victory over sin and death and the devil.

 

And that is good news for us who find ourselves daily entrenched in this battle. The devil is still alive and well today, a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He’s on a leash now and restrained, but that doesn’t mean he still can’t work great mischief. And the greatest mischief he can work is unbelief, doubt, despair. He’s the one who says, “I know who you are, and you can’t possibly be a Christian. I know who the Holy One of God is and you’re definitely not holy.”

 

That’s the devil’s best work. He’s in the doubt business. He’ll use anything to create doubt – your reason, your conscience, sickness, adversity, evil. He’s like the kid who subversively starts fights on the playground and then runs to the principle to report all the fighting that’s going on. He loves to play games with your conscience, your inner critic, reminding you of how much of a religious failure you are. And it’s all largely true, just as it was true that Jesus is the Holy One of God. But in the devil’s mouth, even the truth becomes a lie.

 

Yes, it’s true; we are sinners. God’s Law tells us this clearly, and so that we don’t miss it, the Law even magnifies our sin. But that doesn’t mean you’re not holy. The devil hates paradox, by the way, and loves to make you decide. Which is it? A or B? Are you a sinner or a saint? Are you a child of Adam or of God? Come on, one or the other, you can’t be both, that’s nonsense. But remember, the devil is a liar.

 

The good news is “one little word can fell him.” In this morning’s text, the word is “shut up.” I know you parents want your kids to be polite and not say that, but the devil doesn’t deserve politeness. 

 

We are at war. And it’s a battle for your soul, your life, your faith. Christ has claimed you in Baptism, clothed you in the armor of God, and the devil hates that and will stop at nothing to drive you from Christ, keep you from His Word, get some distance between you and the Lord’s Supper, estrange you from the company of believers, isolate you in your feelings and guilt and shame. There is nothing more vulnerable to a wolf than an isolated, straying sheep.

 

The devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. “Resist him,” Peter says. He is resistible. How? “Standing firm in the faith.” Not resting on your words and work, but on the solid rock of Jesus’ word and work. Jesus’ death and resurrection for you. Jesus’ forgiveness in his body and blood for you. Jesus’ word of forgiveness.

 

“As a called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, I forgive you all of your sins.” 

This is God’s great “shut up” to the devil, to your troubled conscience, to the Law that condemns you rightly for your sins. That is why we come to this place - an outpost of heaven on earth; a haven and a safe harbor in this war and a shelter in the storm – to hear God’s Word, pray, praise, give thanks, and eat and drink Jesus’ body and blood. 

 

“So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: "I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!” (Luther)

 

And the next time you are troubled by the devil, by the world, by your own conscience and you begin to doubt your holiness in Christ, you just tell them all to shut up in the name of Jesus and go away.

 

Jesus Christ is Lord, the Holy One of God, and He says you are forgiven and holy and justified. That’s a Word you can count on. That’s a Word you can die with. That’s a Word with authority.

 

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

Sermon for Epiphany 3: "Good News"

 + 3rd Sunday after the Epiphany - January 21^st, 2024 +

Series B: Jonah 3:1-5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29-35; Mark 1:14-20

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

First moments are an important part of life. A child’s first words or their first steps. Your first job or first college acceptance letter. The first time you met your husband or wife. The tricky part about life’s first moments is that they often happen quickly, and then life goes on. No wonder so many parents watch with their phones and cameras at the ready for that moment their toddler takes his or her first steps. Sometimes we wish we could slow down the moment, make it last longer. Savor it. 

 

Today’s Gospel reading from Mark 1 gives us a first moment in the life and ministry of Jesus as well. Jesus’ first sermon.

 

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 

In Mark’s Gospel, not only is this Jesus’ first sermon…these are the first words Jesus speaks. Up until now the prophets have spoken. John the Baptist has spoken. God the Father has spoken at Jesus’ baptism. And now, Jesus speaks. He preaches. Blink and you might miss it. 

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Even though the disciples didn’t have smart phones or YouTube channels back in the day, they did have words. Mark recorded these words for us so we can slow down, take our time. Savor the words of our Savior. 

 

The time is fulfilled…What time? What fulfillment? What does Jesus mean? The appointed time, the long expected day, the right moment, as Paul says…in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son to be born of a woman born under the Law to redeem us who were under the Law, that we would receive adoption as sons.The time is fulfilled. And where there’s fulfillment, there’s a promise. 

 

God’s word is many things, one of which is a promise that is full of many promises all at once. God promised Adam and Eve a child who would crush the serpent. God promised Abraham descendants more numerous than the stars. God promised Isaac the same thing…that through his offspring all nations on the earth would be blessed. Jacob, too, received this promise. Years and generations went by. Ruth and Boaz. Obed. Jesse. David. Solomon. Kings and prophets came and went but God’s promise remained. And finally, in the most unlikely places of all, the womb of the humble, poor Virgin Mary, God’s promise became a person. The King was clothed in humanity. And the Kingdom of God became flesh.

 

The kingdom of God isn’t so much a what or a where, as it is a who. Jesus is the king and the kingdom. He rules and reigns not by tyranny and coercion and deceit - like the rulers of this world - but in mercy, grace, and steadfast love. The kingdom of God is Jesus…and his kingdom is wherever he is. As Jesus was calling his disciples and teaching and preaching the kingdom of God was at hand, in their midst. Right there talking with them face to face. Teaching. Preaching. Healing. Casting out demons. Walking. Talking. Eating. Drinking. Sleeping. All the while making his way to his coronation and enthronement on the cross outside Jerusalem for you. 

 

When Jesus says the kingdom of God is at hand, that his rule and reign is near…that was true then as he spoke it…but because it’s him speaking it, it is still true. Because of his life, death, and resurrection…his kingdom has no end. So his kingdom comes in his word, in his supper, in your baptism, in his church, in the forgiveness of sins. Why? Because the King is at hand. Jesus is here in his church, in your lives, in his word, in your baptism, in his supper, in the bread and wine you eat. Jesus is not absent. No. He promises. He is present. The Kingdom and the King are at hand. 

This is good news for us.

 

Which brings us back to the words of Jesus’ first sermon. 

 

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

 

Repent and believe the Gospel. What do those words mean? We say them a lot, but have you ever slowed down to think about what they mean? Repent - to turn. To change your mind. You were going this way, now you go that way. Repentance is a return to God. And repentance begins with God. It’s his gift, his work, his doing. We wouldn’t repent of anything unless he gave us his Holy Spirit and worked that turning back to him within us, unless he repented us, unless he changes our hearts and minds. And the good news is he does. 

 

And that’s what that word Gospel means. Good news. Paul says the Gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. What does Jesus mean when he says, repent and believe the Gospel? What is the good news he is bringing? Our first thought, hopefully, is something like this: “Jesus lived, died, and rose for me, to take away my sin and give eternal life with him in heaven.” 

 

This is good. This is true. This is the gospel. This is good news. Although In the context of Mark 1, we are not there yet at the cross. Jesus is heading that way. And that good news of his death and resurrection for you and for the world is yours; it has been announced, it is announced here. 

 

In Mark 1, Jesus is heading to towards his death and resurrection, and the good news that comes to us all because of it. But even before he gets there, there is good news, there is Gospel. He is the King and the kingdom and he is present. He is living sign that God’s promises were kept for you. Even though John was in prison at the beginning of this reading, even though the disciples didn't understand it all yet, even though we don’t always understand it, even though we have trials and suffering in this life just as they did…there is good news for you in Jesus.

 

The Good News is his promise kept for you in Jesus. His Good News is that Jesus is the King and the Kingdom and he is at hand. Right here. Right now. Today. In his word. Right in the middle of whatever you’re going through – a good day or a bad day; a cold or something far more serious. The Kingdom of God is at hand. Jesus is not far; he is near. He is with you. In the forgiveness you receive in his name. In your baptism. In the bread and wine of his supper. In your daily life. In all those times when it looks as if God will not keep his promises, or as if your life looks like the complete opposite of what you thought it would be. Remember Jesus’ first sermon. Remember Jesus’ promise. Remember the good news.

 

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;  live in repentance and faith. Hear his word. Fill your lives and ears with his promises. And believe in the gospel.

 

Christ your king, his kingdom, and all his gifts are at hand. Rejoice and receive the good news.

 

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

 

Funeral Sermon for Natalie Walta: "The Artist"

 + In Memoriam - Natalie Walta: July 11, 1936 - January 6, 2024 +

Psalm 25; Job 19:21-27; Romans 8:31-39; John 14:1-6

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Every artist has his or her favorite medium with which to work. Some prefer to paint with watercolors, oil paints, or acrylics. Some carve and craft amazing pieces out of wood or metal. Some take a lump of clay and with little more than their hands, some water, a potter’s wheel, and their imagination, a work of art is formed.  

 

I recently learned that our dear sister in Christ, Natalie Walta, was an artist. Her paintings had won awards. She attended the Art Institute at the University of Chicago. She taught the arts to little children at St. Paul’s Lutheran school. Yes, Natalie was an artist. 

 

Natalie’s favorite medium, however, was not paint, wood, or clay…it was the loving kindness of Christ…that our Lord worked within her: creating faith, filling her with joy, and then, like a paint can that has been knocked over, that loving kindness of Christ spilled out into Natalie’s life and faith in Christ, and her life and love for others. She painted large brush strokes of kindness everywhere she went and with everyone she met. Why? Because as Paul says in Ephesians, she was saved by grace through faith in Christ…and she was God’s workmanship, his great work of art, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

 

With the Psalmist, Natalie rejoiced in God’s gracious creation, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

Yes, Natalie was an artist, made and formed by God, the great Artist himself. He gave her earthly life, but didn’t stop there. By his handiwork, from the outstretched arms of Christ on the cross and his glorified, nail-scarred hands of the resurrection, he reached down into the water to give her eternal life as well. There in that little church in Herrin, Illinois, our Lord who fearfully and wonderfully made Natalie, more wondrously made Natalie a new creation in Christ, clothed in Christ, baptized in Christ, rescued and redeemed in Christ.

 

Our Heavenly Father, after all, is a master artist, and his favorite medium to work with is his word and something of his creation: water, words, bread, wine.. For Natalie, as he does for all who are baptized, he worked his great saving work in water and word where he baptizes, rescues, and gives new life.

 

As Natalie’s life continued, so did God’s handiwork through her. Her artistry was never confined to the classroom or the canvas; it went into everything she did in life. When she was a teacher she taught her 4th graders and 1st graders the usual things - the ABCs, 123s, how to create works of art - and through it all, she taught them the lovingkindness of Christ, who put in his hands, not a brush or a pencil, but Roman nails that he would carve out of death and the grave, his great work of salvation for Natalie and for you.

 

When she became a minister’s wife - no easy task by the way - she was an artist, painting the loving kindness of Jesus into her conversations over Bible study, Senior Saints, or other activities. 

 

When she and Arnold were raising a family, she was an artist, pouring out the loving kindness of Christ for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, forming and shaping them in the loving kindness of Christ

 

In recent years, here at Beautiful Savior, Natalie’s artistry could be found in the kind words of a thoughtful, beautifully handwritten card, or a hand-stitched quilt. 

 

Natalie approached life, the same way she approached art: with humility, joy, and the loving kindness of Christ. This is because Natalie found inspiration and joy not only on the canvas and at the pottery wheel, but most of all, in the promises of Jesus. 

 

The kind of promises Paul declares to us in Romans 8: that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Promises that our Lord gives in John 14: Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

 

Promises like we hear in Job. 

“Oh that my words were written!

    Oh that they were inscribed in a book!

Oh that with an iron pen and lead

    they were engraved in the rock forever!

For I know that my Redeemer lives,

    and at the last he will stand upon the earth.

And after my skin has been thus destroyed,

    yet in my flesh I shall see God. 

 

This was where Natalie’s love of art and creativity came from, where her hope, joy, faith, and love all flowed out of…out of the loving kindness of Christ for her. Natalie knew that all of the gifts of this earthly life, and the gifts of eternal life in Christ were not found in the work and creativity of her hands, but in the work of Christ’s hands. Natalie’s faith rested not in her own artistry and love, but in the great and gracious work of Christ, who by his death and resurrection, brought his new creation to Natalie and to you.

 

Natalie also knew that while God’s work of salvation was won for her on the cross, he had one more masterpiece in mind: the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting. Natalie’s resurrection. Your resurrection. A real, bodily, physical raising of the dead on the last day. Natalie believed and confessed this mysterious, yet wonderful, comforting promise. That the Lord who knit her together in her mother’s womb would one day call her forth from her resting place in the ground and once again knit a glorified and risen, yet physical body from the grave. That the same Lord who formed Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life, will raise us from the dust and ashes of our and breath into us the living breath of the new creation.

 

That the same Lord who makes us, along with Natalie a new creation in baptism, will also make all things new when he raises our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body on the Last Day. That the great and gracious Artist, our Lord Jesus himself, will speak his creative, life-giving word as he did at the tomb of Lazarus: awake. Arise. Come forth. Behold, I make all things new.

 

Until that day when faith becomes sight, may the loving kindness of Christ, that filled Natalie’s creative hands, and faith and life with such joy, fill your hands, hearts, and lives with the same love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard and keep your hearts in Christ + Jesus to life everlasting. Amen. 

 

 

Sermon for Epiphany 2: "God's Calling"

 + 2^nd Sunday after Epiphany – January 14^th, 2024 +

Series B: 1 Samuel 3:1-10; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; John 1:43-51

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

When you open the Scriptures you find out rather quickly that God is the God who calls. God finds his people by his grace. God calls his people by his grace. And his people follow by his grace. This pattern plays out over and over again throughout God’s Word.

 

God found Abraham. God called Abraham. And Abraham left his home country – all by God’s grace.

 

Moses, too, was found by God. God called Moses in the burning bush. And Moses followed God’s call to lead God’s people – again, all by God’s grace.

 

Samuel the prophet, in this morning’s Old Testament reading was found by God as a young boy. God called Samuel. And by God’s grace, Samuel followed. Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.

 

When we turn to the New Testament, we find the same pattern. God finds. God calls. God’s people follow – by his grace. John’s Gospel says it this way: The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 

 

This is how disciples are made. God finds them. God calls them. And they follow…all by God’s grace.

 

There is no hearing or following unless Jesus first speaks. There is no disciple unless the disciple making words are first heard. There is no faith without the Word preached and heard, no forgiveness without the Word, no holiness, no discipleship, apart from the discipling Word of Jesus. “Follow me.”

 

And by God’s grace that’s what happens. God calls his disciples. Jesus calls Philip. Andrew and Peter too. And Jesus calls Nathanael. A disciple is one who found by God, called by God and who follows where God leads. Disciples are Followers of Jesus. Followers by grace. Followers in faith. Followers with their feet, but also their ears. Jesus speaks, preaches, and teaches his word. Nathanael marveled that Jesus saw him sitting under the fig tree – to which Jesus responded. You will see greater things than these. What greater things? Jesus turning water into wine. Jesus healing a deaf man, a blind man. Jesus casting out demons. Jesus healing diseases. Jesus raising the dead. And then the greatest things of all: Jesus crucified, hanging dead on the cross. Jesus conquering the grave. Jesus alive again three days later. 

 

Philip and Nathanael and the other disciples don’t know what all of this means yet. But when Jesus calls them this is where he is leading them. This is their calling – their vocation – as his disciples. God finds them. God calls them. They follow. They hear. Witness. And then they repeat the pattern. Jesus sends his disciples out to find the lost, to call them through the gospel, to tell them “come and see”. Come, follow Jesus.

 

This was the disciples’ unique vocation. That word, vocation, simply means “calling.” Abraham, Moses, Samuel, the prophets, the disciples, the apostles – they were all called by our Lord. Called by faith and then called into service. All given unique vocations by our Lord to hear his word and proclaim his word.

 

The same is true for each of you. Called by faith and called into service. Like Philip and Nathanael, we are called; given faith in Jesus. And in the same way: by grace; through his word. Jesus spoke to them – follow me – and they did. Jesus calls you as well – I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and you follow. God calls you to faith in His Son Jesus when you hear his word. For us, just as it was for the disciples – Jesus’ word creates the faith, gives us trust in him, and leads us to follow where he leads.

 

And where he leads is yet another calling, or vocation. To be sure, our callings in life are different. We are not apostles or disciples in the same way as Peter, Andrew, Philip or Nathanael. That was a unique office or vocation Jesus placed them in. But the same pattern is at work for you. God finds you by his grace. God calls you by grace through faith in Jesus. By God’s grace we follow where he leads. And God places you in vocations – callings in life – that are unique for you as well. And the beauty of those are that they are ordinary, everyday, vocations or callings. Father, mother, husband, wife, child, son, daughter. Student, teacher. Preachers and hearers. Mechanic, engineer, contractor. Police officer, nurse, soldier, sailor, airman, marine. The list goes on and is unique as each of you are. 

 

Martin Luther called our many and various vocations in life the masks of God. In the home, church, and out in the world throughout the week your vocations are where God hides himself. And behind these vocation, God is hidden in your service to others as you go about your daily, ordinary callings in life. Just as others doing the same things, and in their vocations, are serving you. And God is behind all of this. And all of this is a blessing. And when you think of it that way, every good and God pleasing vocation is the Lord’s work. When you are washing the dishes, taking out the trash, or making lunches  you are doing sacred work. When you are designing bridges, treating patients, or serving your country, you are doing a holy thing. When you are spoiling your grandkids, sitting with your spouse or friend at a doctor’s visit, or praying for a fellow brother or sister in Christ, you are doing the Lord’s work.

 

This is how our Lord works. He finds. He calls. We follow and he works through us all by his grace. After all, God’s call to faith in Jesus is by faith alone, and yet, this faith is never alone. It is busy and active.

 

God calls us to faith and then God calls us to serve. God justifies and saves. And God calls us to love and serve our neighbor. And it is in your vocations where you have the greatest opportunities to do what Philip did for Nathanael when he asked “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Come and see.

 

This is our vocation as followers of Jesus, as his disciples today, as his baptized people. It’s as simple as those three words Philip spoke to Nathanael: come and see. Come and see Jesus with me at church this Sunday. Come and see Jesus in bible study with me this week. Come and see Jesus in this devotion book; I want you to have it. Come and see Jesus. This too is our calling, our vocation. To point others to Jesus who finds and calls by his grace: follow me.

 

It reminds me of an old hymn in our hymnal (826 if you want to look it up). The second verse goes like this:

 

If you cannot speak like angels, If you cannot preach like Paul, You can tell the love of Jesus, You can say He died for all. If you cannot rouse the wicked With the judgment’s dread alarms, You can lead the little children To the Savior’s waiting arms.

 

God’s blessings to each of you in your callings…

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

Sermon for The Baptism of Our Lord: "New Beginnings"

 + The Baptism of Our Lord – January 7^th, 2024 +

Series B: Genesis 1:1-5; Romans 6:1-11; Mark 1:4-11

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

If you’re like me, it’s nearly a week into 2024 and your head – and probably signature on official paperwork – is still stuck back in 2023. Even if we have trouble remembering what year it is…there is still this sense that with the new year comes a new beginning. There’s a fresh start. A clean slate. A chance for a do-over. A mulligan, for all you golfers – or mini-golfers out there.

 

There is a longing within us, a yearning, for a new beginning. And that ending we look for and never quite seem to find in this life, that is always just a little further outside of our grasp…we find it, or rather it finds us…in today’s Scripture readings for the Baptism of our Lord.

 

Each of our readings today marks a beginning of something new. Genesis – creation. Mark’s Gospel and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, marked by his baptism in the Jordan. The beginning of your new life in Christ through your own baptism into his death and resurrection. Unlike our resolutions or best wishes for the new year, these beginnings are entirely up to God’s doing, and by his grace. 

The opening words of Genesis says it all. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 

Creation dawns – not randomly or accidentally – but with a word. God says, “let there be light” and there is light. God speaks and light is created out of darkness. God’s word does what he says. Creation begins out of nothing. God brings order out of chaos. A new beginning by the breath of his almighty, creative word. And along with God’s voice at this new beginning of creation are a few other familiar gifts God gives throughout other new beginnings in the Bible: water, the Spirit, and light.

 

Fast forward to the Gospel of Mark, and this is no coincidence, the opening verses sound awful familiar. The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark’s gospel also marks a new beginning. John the Baptist announces it; he is the herald of the new beginning, of the dawn of the age of the Messiah. The people recognize this as a new beginning. They flock from all around Judea and Jerusalem, head out into the wilderness for a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning…

 

John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 

 

This is why we confess our sins and receive forgiveness in the absolution every Sunday. Like those crowds seeking John the Baptist, we long for and need the new beginning that comes with repentance and forgiveness of sins. And that is what God is doing here for us.

 

John’s preaching is only part of the story, though isn’t it. After me comes he who is mightier than I. There is another, and far greater, new beginning that John is preparing us for. It all begins in the Jordan River. The same river that marked the beginning of Israel’s entrance into the promised land. The same river that marked the beginning of Elisha’s ministry after Elijah. Is now the river where the true Israel and the greater prophet – the Son of God in the flesh – now marks the beginning of his public ministry…where by his life, by his temptation, by his teaching and miracles, by his death and resurrection and ascension – where he will make all things new.

 

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

 

Do you hear the bells of Genesis ringing in the background? I hope so. It’s all there. Water. The Spirit. Light. And God’s voice declaring. The heavens that he created back in the beginning Genesis, are now opened as he sends forth and publicly confirms that his only begotten Son has come to renew not simply creation, but to make new creatures out of old, sinful sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. To bring light out of the darkness of our sin. To bring order out of the chaos we’ve created. To bring life out of the grave we find ourselves in. to call forth faith out of nothing just as he did when he spoke and made creation out of nothing. Jesus came to make a new beginning for you. In the Father’s announcement that Jesus is the beloved Son, we hear a preview of what the Father declares of each of you through Jesus: you are my beloved son, and in my Son I am well pleased with you.

 

But of course, Jesus’ Baptism is significant not only for him but also for you. Jesus stands in the Jordan River as a substitute. And it is a signal – that in him, through his life lived perfectly, life laid down sacrificially, his life raised up triumphantly – that he will make a new creation out of you as well. He does it the same way he did it in Genesis. Water. Spirit. Light. And his word.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 

We seem to forget that while Baptism is a joyful, blessed, and holy gift, and a new beginning…it is also an end. And a violent one at that! Paul says it is our death. Remember your catechism. What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam (our sinful flesh) in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

 

That new beginning we long for. That clean slate. That fresh start. You won’t find it in your hands, or anything you do or say. After all, resolutions quickly become regrets. Sin festers into guilt and shame. Chaos and death creep into our hearts, minds, thoughts, words, and actions faster than the ball dropping on new year’s eve. 

 

All of that, however – all of your sin, doubt, despair, death, all of your guilt, shame, and regret – it all drops dead in Jesus. And in Jesus you are given an everlasting, eternal, and gracious new beginning. Through water and his Spirit and his word be brings you new life. He brings you something better than a mulligan…he shows you mercy. He brings you something better than a do-over. He declares, “It is finished.” For you. Though your sins were like scarlet, you shall be white as snow. 

Behold, I am making all things new. For you, you who are in Christ, you are a new creation; the old has gone, and behold the new has come. 

 

 

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

Sermon for 1st Sunday after Christmas: "Waiting With Simeon"

 + 1st Sunday of Christmas - 12.31.23 +

Series B: Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

Anyone with children or grand-children has heard these words before…before Christmas, before a birthday, before something highly anticipated: I. Can’t. Wait.

But let’s not kid ourselves. Adults aren't much better. Amazon same-day shipping isn’t fast enough. The buffering bar keeps spinning while I’m streaming Netflix. And heaven forbid we get stuck at a red light. Yes, the great hymn writer, Tom Petty was right about us…the waiting is the hardest part.

In our day and age of fast-food, high-speed 5G networks, and instant access to the internet with a touch of our phones, we have lost the art of waiting. 

And yet Scripture has a lot to say about waiting. 

In Psalm 130 we hear…My soul waits for the Lord; my soul waits, and in his word I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. (Psalm 130:5-6)

Psalm 40: I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40)

Psalm 27:14: Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:14)

Towards the end of his life Jacob cried out…I wait for your salvation O Lord. (Genesis 39)

St. Paul echoes our anxious waiting as we and all creation groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22-23)

Today on this 7th day of Christmas we find ourselves like Simeon. Waiting. 

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel

Simeon was waiting… Not twiddling-his-thumbs or yawning away the hours, but the kind of waiting that knows that, sooner or later, God will make good on his promise. And this was the Lord’s promise: before he saw death, he would see the Lord’s Christ. The Seed that Adam longed to see sprout. The Rest Noah longed for. The everlasting on David’s throne. The child born of a Virgin whom Isaiah prophesied. This One, Simeon cradled in his arms.

Simeon knew a thing or two about waiting. For…The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Waiting…always comes before consolation. Noah and his family waited over a year to walk on the dry ground of a new creation. Israel waited over 40 years to finally cross the Jordan to the Promised Land. 

Simeon is the Old Testament in one man, watching for the fulfillment and consolation of Israel. That’s the pattern. Waiting, then consolation. 

Simeon is a wonderful picture of our life in this fallen, broken world. A life so often marked by waiting.

What is that you find yourself waiting for this morning? What is it that you wait for in the New Year that is nearly upon us? Resolutions you are pondering? Goals for the year ahead? A new job? Better economy? 

Perhaps you find yourself, like Simeon, waiting for consolation. A good report from those tests the doctor did before Christmas. Healing from a sudden or prolonged illness. Reconciliation from a strained or broken relationship with family or a friend. Waiting with someone in hospice care. Waiting for despair to lift, for an anxious heart to calm, for a moment of quietness in a busy, noisy world. 

Whatever our waiting may look like - and it’s different for all of us - there’s one thing we all have in common. We’re terrible at waiting. Lord give me patience and give it to me right now! We’re impatient because we don’t trust. We don’t trust because we want things done our way and in our time. My kingdom come. My will be done. 

Here’s the thing about waiting. We can wait in line for a new iPhone, but it’s going to be obsolete as soon as we get it in our hands. We might wait for a new movie or show…but it could just as well fail to live up to the hype. So often in this life what we wait for never comes. False gods - whether they’re outside or inside of us - always disappoint.

But in the Lord, your waiting is never in vain. 

So, how does God answer us in our waiting? The same way he did with Simeon: in the hidden lowliness of the cross. In the ordinary humility of a defenseless, tiny child – probably the last thing Simeon expected. All of God’s promises wrapped up in the human flesh of a 40 day old infant in his arms. Simeon’s consolation and ours is found in the Child of the Manger. Simeon’s redemption and ours is found in the redemption of this Man on the cross.

God answered our waiting when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵ to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

God came to Simeon in his waiting, and he comes to you as you wait, with the same promise: consolation in the Christ child born for you. Comfort in the one who came to the temple at 40 days old, and again when he was 33 - there in Simeon’s arms, on the cross outside Jerusalem, in the word he speaks to you, in his body and blood poured out for you, in the water of your baptism, in the word of forgiveness - there is the one who answers our waiting with his word of consolation. 

And so with Simeon we wait for the Lord. Knowing that in the Lord, the wait is over. Jesus is here. Our waiting and our consolation; our hope and our redemption; our life and our death. It’s all here for you in this Child of the Manger and the Man of the Cross, just as it was for Simeon. 

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.”

A blessed 7th day of Christmas and a happy New Year…

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