Sermon for The Baptism of Our Lord: "Destruction and Deliverance"

 + The Baptism of Our Lord – January 12^th, 2025 +

Series C: Isaiah 43:1-7; Romans 6:1-11; Luke 3:15-22

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

You can pour a glass of water or soak in a relaxing hot tub, but every now and then you get a reminder that water is a wild, untamed element.

 

Water can bring you a relaxing float down the river. But that same river can flood when the rains come or when Mt. St. Helens blew its top and sent lahars down the Toutle River.

Water can bring gnarly waves for surfers. But that same ocean can crash into homes and cities in a tsunami.

Water is the great ingredient for life but it but also a great cause of death. Water can bring great destruction and great deliverance. 

 

You see this in the story of the Scriptures as well. The waters of the flood in Genesis brought great destruction - For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. And yet the waters also delivered Noah and his family, eight souls in all.

 

Later on, in Egypt, the waters of the Nile River brought death and destruction to countless Hebrew babies and their families, but those same waters delivered infant Moses in a basket to Pharaoh’s daughter so he would grow up to be God’s deliverer of his people.

 

And arguably, one of God’s most famous and climactic aquatic rescues for his people is the Exodus through the waters of the Red Sea. “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left…Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.”

 

It’s all there in the water: death to Pharaoh, and life for God’s people. This is the story the water tells you in the Scriptures: When God stirs the waters he brings great destruction and great deliverance.

But this is not only true in the Old Testament. It’s true when we open up the New Testament as well. Listen to Paul’s words again in Romans 6: ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 

There it is again. That familiar pattern of Scripture. Water – the water of your baptism – brings you the same thing it brought Noah and Moses and Israel: destruction and deliverance. Wait, baptism is destructive? It is, at least it is to your sin, death, and the devil. Through water your old Adam is drowned. By water your sin is killed and washed away. By water you are joined to Jesus’ death and burial. By water you die to sin. Water is death and destruction…but it’s also deliverance.

 

⁴ 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.

The water that brings your sin to ruin also brings you rescue from sin. The water that drowns your old Adam also gives you life in Christ your second Adam. The water that floods you as it did the whole word, also saves you like Noah and his family. 

The water that destroyed the Pharaoh of hell and all his chariots, also delivers you safely through water. The water that closes the lid of your coffin also opens the gates of heaven to you. In the water of your baptism God does what he does in his word: he kills and makes alive. He buries you with Jesus and raises you up. He brings great destruction and great deliverance. 

 

When God stirs the waters he brings great destruction and great deliverance. The same is true when God himself steps foot into the waters of the Jordan River. 

 

Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;^[c]with you I am well pleased.”

 

Now at first, this may not sound like an act of destruction and deliverance. But it is. When Jesus steps into the Jordan River he steps into a sinner’s baptism. He joins sinners, makes himself one with sinners, publicly announces that he is for sinners. From Jordan’s River to Jerusalem’s cross, Jesus takes on our destruction and in doing so, is also our deliverance. 

 

Martin Luther once said it this way: “Why does Jesus come to be baptized, seeing that He is without any sin or impurity for Baptism to take away? What a blessed Baptism that must be! Here John gets a sinner who has no sin so far as His own person is concerned, and yet He is the greatest sinner, who has and bears the sin of the world. …For here He steps into my person and yours and stands in the place of all of us who are sinners. God found this remedy: He took the sins of all human beings and hung them all around the neck of Him who alone was without sin. He thus becomes a great sinner—indeed, the greatest sinner of all and the only sinner on earth…For our sake, Jesus is baptized…He plunges our sin into His Baptism and washes them away from Himself (that is, He washes them from us, since He has stepped into our person) so that they must be drowned and die in His Baptism. . . .”

 

Once again it’s all there in the water: destruction and deliverance. The same thing happens on the cross as well. Utter destruction. Darkness. Death. Jesus is crucified. Your sin…destroyed. Your death…destroyed. All the lies and deceits of the devil…destroyed. All your guilt, shame, sorrow, and eternal despair…destroyed. For this is also your great deliverance. 

 

And once again there is water. Not in the Jordan River. Not in the Red Sea. Not in a cataclysmic flood. But a stream that makes glad the city of God, flowing out of Jesus’ pierced side. A river of life-giving, living water that wells up for you into eternal life. This is the water that flows downstream from his cross to the water of baptism to you. In this water your sin is destroyed sin and you are delivered. In this water God has called you by name, you are his. In this water, you must consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus. In this water, the heavens are opened, the Spirit descends, and the Father says to you: “You are my beloved son;^[c]with you I am well pleased.”

 

 

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

 

Sermon for Second Sunday after Christmas: "Jesus is the Temple"

 + Second Sunday after Christmas - January 5th, 2025 +

Series C: 1 Kings 3:4-15; Ephesians 1:3-14; Luke 2:40-52

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

In the beginning…in Genesis, God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the Garden he created for them. Adam and Eve did not have to wonder where God was or wander to find him. But Genesis 3 changed all of that. Along with the curse of sin and death spread over creation, there was also a separation between God and man, Creator and creature. And ever since Genesis 3, fallen humanity has been trying to reclaim what was lost…to find God or rather, to become our own gods. So it was in the wicked generations that preceded the flood. So it was with the tower of Babel. 

 

So it is in our day. Our fallen world has not grown less religious…but more. Man’s search for God is endless…and in all the wrong places. Some look for God in their morals and behavior. Some look for God in the mystical experiences of emotion. Some look for God in their minds. Some look for God in the material alone.

 

But the Scriptures declare something marvelous and gracious and unexpected. What we cannot do, God does. We, who are unable to find God on our own, God becomes findable and knowable in searching you out…in seeking and saving the lost. The Scriptures tell us time and again of the story of God’s search for man. And when God comes looking for you this is good news. 

 

In truth, God is not hard to find if you know where to look. Look where he promises to be. And in Scripture, there’s one place you can always count on finding the God who has come to find you. In his temple.

 

In Eden, God created a garden temple for Adam and Eve to live in, worship in, and dwell with God on earth. And even though sin destroyed this and Adam and Eve were exiled out of Eden, God’s desire was always to dwell with his people and be where he could be found. 

 

So, years later, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush - a preview of the tabernacle and temple - holy ground, holy fire and God’s holy presence. Later on, God gave Moses and Israel the Tabernacle - a place where God could be found. Where he dwelled with his people and for them - in the blood and fire and smoke and sacrifice. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you. 

 

In the days of the tabernacle, if you wanted to find God, it was easy. Moses didn’t offer you a self-help book or a guru or some strange tasting kool-aid. No. You go to where he finds his people and dwells with them. Where God promises to be. In the Tabernacle. 

 

Centuries later, King David desired to build a house for the Lord in Jerusalem, but that was not given to him to do. That task was left for another son of David, Solomon. And build it he did. Yet even Solomon wondered…as he prayed at the temple’s dedication…will God indeed dwell on the earth?

 

It would take several more centuries and exile and prophets, but God eventually answered Solomon’s question. God sent yet another son of David…the Son of David…who is also the Son of God in human flesh. And where is he found when he comes? Surprise. Surprise! In his temple. 

 

First the temple of Mary’s womb. Then the temple at 40 days old. And now in Luke 2 at the age of 12, God is once again findable and knowable. Once again God is in his temple. 

 

When Mary and Joseph go looking for the pre-teen Prince of Peace, where do they find him? Where God has always promised to be with his people and to be where they can find the God who has come to find them.

 

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents[g] saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”

 

What about us? Where do we go to look for God’s promise and presence? Do we search our feelings? Do we grope about in the darkness? Do we look for God in what we think, say, or do? Do we seek God in our happiness, but think he’s abandoned us in our sadness? Do we look for God in our savings accounts and screens and shiny things? 

 

We go where God promises to be found. We go where we can find the God who comes to find you. And it’s right where he said he would be…in his Father’s house. In the holy ark of the church. In the tent of meeting where he meets you in his word. In his peace and presence in holy baptism where you are made a temple of the Holy Spirit. In the holy tabernacle of bread and wine where Jesus’ body and blood dwells for you. 

 

Jesus teaching in the temple at age 12 is not only a remarkable story of his wisdom and obedience to the Father’s will. Jesus could have taught people anywhere…and he did. But he chose to teach in the temple because not only is God found in his temple…now in Jesus, God incarnate, he is the temple. No longer is the temple made of cedar and wood and gold. Now God’s temple is made with flesh and blood and bone.

 

This is why Jesus will say later on in his ministry: “destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up again.” His incarnate, crucified, and risen body is now your temple. AFter three days Mary and Joseph found him in the temple in Jerusalem. And after three days, his disciples find him, the temple in human flesh, alive again and risen from the dead. Just as he promised. 

 

If you want to know where to find God, it’s not hard. He is right where he promises to be. Jesus is in his Father’s house finding you and bringing you all of the Father’s gifts of wisdom, grace, and steadfast love.

 

This holy house and these holy gifts of water, word, bread and wine…are a gracious foretaste of the feast to come in the new creation. Where once again, and forever, Jesus is your temple.

 

And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

 

A blessed 12th day of Christmas to each of you…

 

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

 

Sermon for Christmas Day: "A Child Changes Everything"

 + Nativity of Our Lord – December 25^th, 2024 +

Series C: Isaiah 52:7-10; Hebrews 1:1-6; John 1:1-14

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Just this last Sunday after bible class a half dozen of our junior high and high school youth, and a few parents, were standing around after bible class. We were all gathered in a circle. Hovering in awe and wonder over a stroller. Inside, sleeping soundly away, was our newest baptized member, little Eleanor. And I thought to myself, what could possibly bring teenagers to a dead stop on a Sunday morning after downing too many Christmas cookies? Well, a child changes everything.

 

Parents know this well. One day, one moment, everything changes. Your plans. Your schedules. Your wants and needs and priorities. It all changes. What you eat and drink and buy. When you eat and drink and sleep. What you watch on TV: the endless episodes of Bluey. Paw Patrol. And a parade of Disney princesses. What you want to watch? Well, you’ll just have to let it go. Your house is no longer quiet. Not always clean. And you find yourself talking about the color and consistency of poop over dinner that you scarf down in a few minutes. And yet, you wouldn’t change a thing. Because a child changes everything.

 

Country artist, Faith Hill, had a Christmas song about this very thing a while back. 

 

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything

 

Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything

 

She can feel He's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything

 

That’s the good tidings of great joy that is Christmas. This child born for you, changes everything. Here is the Child promised by Isaiah long ago. How beautiful are the feet of him who is born to bring good news in the manger of his birth all the way to the mountain of his death. With swaddled cloths and a bed of hay, your God reigns and comes to rescue you from the shroud of death and an endless sleep in the grave. We join the angels and Mary in bursting forth in song. Glory to God in the highest, who has come down to dwell with the lowest. Peace on earth, for God is pleased to dwell with you and for you. The Son of God has become a child so that through him, you become a child of God. The Lord lays bare his holy arms even as he is held in Mary’s arms and cuddled on Joseph’s chest, for one day those same infant arms will be full grown arms of a man stretched out in love on the cross for you.

 

Because of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, a child changes everything. 

 

This is great joy and wonder and good news, yet also a gracious, divine mystery. For at Christmas the Creator of the world comes to bear the curse of our sin. The Lord of all comes to be the servant of all and give his life for all. Here in the arms of Mary his mother, who carries him, changes him, burps him is the One through whom all creation is upheld. Here is the uncreated God yet found in skin and blood and bone. And there is not a drop of blood in Mary or in you that he does not make and preserve. He is the eternal Word and yet he is made flesh of your flesh and bone of your bone and sheds his blood for you on the cross. 

 

As Augustine once said…”Man’s maker was made man, that He, Ruler of the stars, might nurse at His mother’s breast; that the Bread might hunger, the Fountain thirst, the Light sleep, the Way be tired on its journey; that the Truth might be accused of false witness, the Teacher be beaten with whips, the Foundation be suspended on wood; that Strength might grow weak; that the Healer might be wounded; that Life might die.”

 

Because of Jesus’ birth at Christmas, this child changes everything. It’s the greatest Christmas gift exchange in the history of the world, and it’s all here in this child born for you. You bring him your guilt, and he gives you his grace. You bring him your sorrow, sickness, and sin, and he brings you joy, healing, and forgiveness. You give him your despair and death, and he gives you eternal comfort and joy and new life. 

 

And you know what, he wouldn’t change a thing. Because Jesus’ birth at Christmas means this child changes everything for you. And that is why he is born.

 

This child sends shepherds on a midnight run to a manger. 

This child sends magi on a journey covering hundreds of miles. 

This child turns the world upside down by being lifted up on a tree to save you.

This child is the eternal Word made flesh to dwell with you, save you, and call you his own.

Because of this child the ancient slavery is ended, the devil confounded, the demons take to flight, the power of death is broken, paradise is unlocked, the curse is taken away, sin is removed from us, the darkness is overwhelmed and everything has changed for you.

 

For Today the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 

Today your infant Redeemer has come to rescue you.

 

Today we join the angels and sing

Glory to the newborn King
This child, Jesus, changes everything.

 

A Merry Christmas to each of you…

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for Christmas Eve - Service of Lessons and Carols: "A Christmas Quest"

 + December 24^th, 2024 – Christmas Eve: Service of Lessons and Carols +

Genesis 3:8-15; 17-19; Genesis 22:15-19; Isaiah 9:2-7; Isaiah 11:1-9; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2:1-12; John 1:1-14

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

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

 

Have you ever noticed how many of the classic Christmas movies – old and new - feature some kind of journey or a quest? Clark W. Griswold takes his family out to find the perfect Christmas tree in their 4-wheeled, Ford Taurus sleigh. Buddy the Elf leaves the north pole, heads into the candy cane forest, over the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops and finally through the Lincoln tunnel to arrive in New York City. And of course there’s Ralphie’s famous quest for his Christmas dream of a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. 

 

Now, as goofy and silly as these family favorites are, they reveal a rather important truth about Christmas. The story of Christmas is the story of a quest and a journey. Not our journey to find the perfect tree or perfect gift, not even our quest to find God, but rather God’s journey into his creation to find you. Christmas is the story of God’s journey to save you in Jesus. 

 

That’s the story we’ve been hearing in the Scriptures and singing about tonight – the greatest quest and the most miraculous journey of all: Christ is born for you. From cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, the story the Scriptures tell us time and time again is the story of God’s Christmas quest to rescue and deliver you in Jesus: born for you.

 

God’s Christmas quest to save you begins (at least from our point of view) back in the beginning. In Genesis. In Eden, where God gave Adam and Eve a whole garden full of trees covered in edible ornaments. God gave them gifts on and under every tree except for one – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

 

And yet, Satan in the form of a serpent is on a quest of his own. Like the Grinch trying to steal Christmas from Whoville, Satan slithers into Eden hell-bent on sabotage and corruption of God’s good creation. With crafty words and empty promises, he deceives, tempts, and leads Adam and Eve astray in sin. Setting them and all creation on a death march to the grave. God’s good creation was now full of curse and sin and shame and guilt and exile out of Eden. And yet God did not let Adam and Eve wander aimless in the wilderness or sojourn alone as vagabonds. He clothed them and gave them a word to hold onto. A promise of a Christmas quest to come. One day there will come a child. Born of a woman. And his quest will be to crush the serpent once and for all. 

 

In Genesis 22, God’s Christmas quest continues. Abraham and Isaac journey to the mountain God chose and told Abraham to sacrifice his son, his only son whom he loves. Abraham doesn’t know the details of God’s itinerary of him and Isaac on Mt. Moriah, but he knows and trusts this: despite what he sees and what he’s tasked to do, he believes that YHWH will raise Isaac from the dead. “The Lord will provide the sacrifice, my son.” And he does, only not on this mountain of Moriah, but on another mountain of Calvary. There, the Son of God in the flesh will make a journey of his own and the Father will provide his Son, his only Son whom he loves, as the sacrifice promised to Abraham, Isaac, and to you. 

 

Down through the pages of Scripture and the ages of history, God’s Christmas quest continues. Through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Through Israel’s  journey down to Egypt and out again 400 years later. Through the exodus. The Red Sea. The wilderness wandering. Into the promised land. The time of judges and kings and division and exile and return. 

 

All the while, God sends his prophets, like Isaiah, to lead his wayward sheep back onto the path of his ways and his word. God gives hope and comfort to those who dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death. Once again, God sends his people in and out of exile but not without a promise. A word of good news. 

 

The people who walked in darkness    have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,   on them has light shone.

 

God’s Christmas quest continues in the most unexpected of ways. God promises to send his light into the darkness in the form of a little child. For unto us a child is born and unto us a Son – God’s Son – is given. Through all of their sinful wanderings and failings and fallings, from all their walking in their own ways – and we’re no different – God sends one to lead us out of darkness and death into light and life. The One Isaiah calls the Shoot from the stump of Jesse and the Branch of Jesse’s roots. Who will lead God’s people on such a great journey of salvation from death to life? From the grave to resurrection? A little child shall lead them.

 

A little child shall lead them. Lead us where? First to Nazareth. To the Virgin Mary to whom the angel Gabriel journeys to tell her that her womb will be the place where God’s Christmas quest finds its stage of God’s great sojourn of salvation. behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

 

From Nazareth, Mary journeys to Judah to visit Elizabeth, and eventually she travels with Joseph to Bethlehem. And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. 

 

God who sent his angels to guard the way back into Eden now sends his angels on another holy journey. To lowly shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night. A Christmas quest full of good news: Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And  the shepherds, well, they’re sent on a Christmas quest as well. To Bethlehem. To find the baby foretold by God in Genesis. The beloved Son of God Abraham believed in and the sacrifice provided by the Father to spare Isaac. To find the child who’s David’s son and David’s Lord. To meet their Good Shepherd, and ours, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. 

 

There is no greater journey than this. No greater quest than Christmas when God becomes man to save man. That’s the joyous, mysterious good news we’ve been singing and hearing tonight. The birth of Jesus brings God down to man so that in the cross and death of Jesus, man is brought back to God. 

 

If the Scriptures were an atlas, all journeys, all the wanderings and exiles, all of God’s words and all his promises, lead to the joyous good news of God’s greatest journey of all: Jesus birth for you, Jesus’ death for you, Jesus’ rest in the tomb for you, Jesus rising again on the third day with new life for you. In the Scriptures all roads lead to Bethlehem and Jerusalem, to the manger and to the cross, to Jesus born for you and Jesus crucified and risen for you. All of history, the patriarchs, kings, and prophets – it’s all been leading us down the road to the place and time where God fulfills his Christmas quest, here in the manger, and on ahead to the cross. 

 

So tonight, we sing with shouts of victory for this infant boy has come to crush the serpent under his feet forever.

 

Tonight, we rejoice with Abraham and Isaac that God has not withheld his Son, his only Son to be our sacrifice. Our Savior. And the one who sojourns with us all our days.

 

Tonight, we join Isaiah’s hymn of praise for unto us this Christ child is born, and his resting place in the manger and on the cross is glorious for you. 

 

Tonight we journey with the angels and the shepherds and the magi, and all the faithful to that little town of Bethlehem bursting forth in joy: Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men. Glory to God in the highest, who makes his bed in the lowest place for me and for you and for all.

 

For tonight, we celebrate the good news of God’s Christmas quest to save you in Jesus born for you.

 

A blessed Christmas Eve to each of you…

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for Christmas Eve - Midnight: "Something New"

 + The Nativity of Our Lord, Midnight – December 24^th, 2024 +

Series C: Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-20

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

 

In 1849 the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote about society and technology that “the more things change the more they stay the same.”

In 1971 Roger Daltrey, Pete Townsend and The Who sang about politics, “Meet the old boss, same as the new boss…we won’t get fooled again.”

 

These are really just new ways of saying something that’s not so new at all. Something Solomon said long ago in Ecclesiastes, describing life apart from, or outside of God’s saving promises.

What has been, it is what will be,
And what has been done, it is what will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

 

The more you read history the more you find yourself agreeing with Solomon. There’s nothing new. Wars come and go. Empires and rulers rise and fall. Generations come and generations go. And the grave is the great equalizer. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

 

But then one day, the angel Gabriel appears to a Virgin and announces that God is doing something truly new. “Do not be afraid, Mary… And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus…The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” 

 

Long ago, Solomon asked, “Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Ecc. 1: 10.

 

Well, tonight there is. Tonight God answers Solomon’s question with a gracious “yes” that echoes in the heavens and comes down to earth. In all of the world’s ages, in all of the years of human history there is only one new thing that has happened. Christmas. Christ’s incarnation. The birth of God in the flesh. God is man, man to deliver.

 

Tonight, God sends his angels to the shepherds to declare the good news, “Behold I am doing a new thing.” For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

 

Tonight, the monotony of history and all the sameness of sin and death is undone, for the Christ Child born has come to make all things new.

 

Tonight there’s something new happening under the sun. For behold, someone greater than Solomon is here.

 

A Virgin conceives and bears a Son.

God is made man.

The Son of God makes his home under the sun to make all things new by his dying and rising.

The Lord of all becomes a little child.

The King of creation humbles himself to be born of a Virgin. Here in Bethlehem in the manger and in Mary’s arms we find our swaddled God. A diapered divinity. Mary’s little lamb is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

 

Christ’s incarnation is the grand miracle. A gracious mystery. And a moment that changes all history.

 

All the sameness of sin. All the oldness of death. All our guilt and shame that never seems to go away. The nagging worries. The hurts and pains. They’re all undone.

 

For The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone. 

For unto us a child is born.

Christ’s birth for you is the beginning of his saving work to make all sad things come untrue. Christ’s birth for you means that God has come to earth to rescue you, suffer for you, bleed for you, bear sin and sorrow and sickness for you, to die for you, be buried for you. To do another new thing. To rise from the dead for you. Behold, I make all things new.

 

Christ’s birth for you means that something new has happened. The Son of God is born to make you children of the Father. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.

 

And the Son of God has done something truly new under the sun. Christ is born to save for you.

 

A blessed Christmas to each of you…

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for Advent 4: "Advent Visitations"

 + 4^th Sunday of Advent – 12.22.24 +

Series C: Micah 5:2-5; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-56

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

It’s that time of the year when family gatherings are planned, brunches are scheduled, and the calendar fills up with holiday visitations. But there’s always that lingering fear or worry in the back of your head that your family equivalent of Cousin Eddy from Christmas Vacation is going to show up, park his RV in your driveway stay a while. And yet, for every black sheep of the family, there’s almost always someone who brings comfort and joy as soon as they walk in the door – I think of my Aunt Becky or some of my older cousins. Quite often there’s that family member who lights up the room with joy whenever they visit. 

 

That’s the kind of story we find ourselves in the middle of on this fourth Sunday of Advent. A visitation full of comfort and joy. But this visitation, at least from Mary and Elizabeth’s point of view, is entirely unexpected. Who would’ve guessed that Elizabeth in her older age and with her barren womb, would be six months along in her pregnancy? And giving birth to John the forerunner of the Messiah no less. And then God ups the ante on his own gracious visitation. Mary, a young virgin, is also expecting by the Holy Spirit, just as Gabriel told her when he visited her with the joyous news that she would be the mother of God and give birth to the Son of God in the flesh.   

 

When Mary visits Elizabeth it’s a family gathering that goes all the way back to God’s promise in Genesis 3. It’s a holy get-together that our Lord has been planning since before the foundation of the world. It’s a meeting that God has been moving all of history to arrange and set in motion.

 

This is what God does. He graciously visits his people.

 

And when our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior. God has a long track record of making his gracious visitation leading up to Luke 1 with Mary and Elizabeth and John and Jesus in their wombs.

 

God visits Adam and Eve in the cool of the garden, even before their sin plunged the whole world into darkness. But even there in the shattered bliss of Eden, God visits Adam and Eve with a promise. A child. Born of a woman. A Savior who will crush the serpent. A gracious visitation of victory over death for you.

 

Later on in Genesis, God visits Abram and Sarai, foretelling a promised child from an aged, barren womb – sounds familiar doesn’t it! His name, Isaac, even means laughter. It’s a gracious visitation where God brings comfort and joy in the form of a son who will carry God’s promise on to the next generation. And on and on. Down through Judah’s family tree, to the root and shoot of Jesse, Jesus.

 

As time goes on, so does God’s gracious visitation among his people. He visits Jacob at the ford of Jabbok as he sleeps. He visits Moses in the burning bush and upon Mt. Sinai. He visits Israel in the pillar of smoke and fire. He visits Elijah in the cave and the prophets in his word. 

 

And then one day, in Nazareth, God sends an angel to visit the young Virgin Mary to deliver the unexpected, yet joyful good news. God is once again visiting his people. Only this time God is not visiting his people in a burning bush or a pillar of fire or a prophet’s voice. 

 

The Word of God, who spoke to the prophets, now is the Word made flesh. The holy One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush is conceived in our humanity in Mary’s womb. The One who walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the garden is now growing legs and arms in Mary’s womb as John jumps for joy within Elizabeth’s womb.

 

When our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior. You can imagine seeing John send ripples of joy across Elizabeth’s stomach as Mary bears within her own womb God’s gracious visitation. You can hear the gladness and excitement in Elizabeth’s words. 

Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ⁴³ And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she who believed that there would be^[g] a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Take a moment and look again (if you haven’t yet) at the artwork on the bulletin cover today. This is a copy. The original was done by an artist – Corby Eisbacher – and it’s called Jump for Joy. The artist beautifully illustrates for our eyes what God’s word declares to our ears. Mary’s eyes point our eyes to Jesus within her womb. Elizabeth’s head is lifted up to heaven in joy, giving us comfort and joy in God’s gracious visitation. It’s the kind of picture that speaks more joy than you could put into words. But if you had to put it into words you could say it this way. When our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior.

This visitation is a blessing for Mary to be sure. It’s beautiful. Awe-inspiring. Mysterious. Yet gracious visitation. She’s the mother of God. The child growing in her womb is the One who fearfully and wonderfully knitted her together in her mother’s womb. The Son she will give birth to is the same child promised to Adam, Eve, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For he is also the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And yet, while Mary is unique, she is not alone in this blessing. You share in the blessing too. 

 

God’s gracious visitation in the womb of Mary is for you too. When our Lord visits his people, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior. And while he brings comfort and joy, these are not prerequisites for his coming. He doesn’t pull out his joy-o-meter to determine if we’re prepared and ready. God comes. God arrives. God visits us. Often times not when we’re most joyful, but when we’re in the dark. When we doubt and despair. When we grieve and suffer guilt. When we’re full of sorrow, shame, and sin. When the last thing we expect is God’s gracious visitation. 

 

Then he comes. God visits you at the bedside of a dying loved one. God visits you when the doctor says the cancer isn’t going away. God visits you when the pregnancy test comes back negative…or positive. God visits you when your friendships and families blow up in arguments and tension. 

 

As God in the flesh dwells in the womb of Mary, he visits you with all of his grace and goodness and loving-kindness. As God in the flesh goes to the cross he visits you with his saving love. As God in the flesh rises from the dead he visits you with new life. As God in the flesh gives you his gifts of word, water, body and blood, he visits you with forgiveness. Pardon. Peace. God in the flesh visits you when you care for one another in the love of Christ, and when others care for you.

 

And when our Lord visits you, he brings comfort and joy in Jesus, the promised Savior.

 

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

 

In Memoriam: Funeral Sermon for Steve Pelissier: "The Servant"

 + In Memoriam – Steve Pelissier +

Psalm 46; Lamentations 3:22-33; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-17

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.

 

In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes…Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

 

If Paul had written this today he might say it like this: God gives us each a variety of hats to wear, but they are all made and given to us by the same gracious Hatter, our Lord Jesus.

 

And by God’s grace, Steve was a man who wore many hats in his life. A Sailor. Air traffic controller. Husband. Father. Friend. Family man. Coach. Mentor. Traveler. Storyteller. Just to name a few.

 

So what do you call a man who wore many hats of this kind? These are not the hats of a collector, but of a servant. The common word that I’ve heard used to describe Steve these past few weeks is that great biblical word of servant.

 

By God’s grace Steve served his country in the U.S. Navy. He served and helped protect the skies as an air traffic controller. He served in the home as husband, father, and faithful neighbor. Always looking for other ways to be of assistance, he served as a coach and mentor at Concordia. As he wore all these hats, as he served in all these ways, it was the same Lord Jesus who made, shaped, and called him to such varieties of service.

 

Now, some might see this as an opportunity to boast. To pat themselves on the back and take a bow. But I think I know Steve well enough to know that is the exact opposite of what he would say or do. Why? Because Steve knew what Paul declares in Ephesians 2:

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

Steve’s faith in Christ was a gift. Unearned. Undeserved. Unmerited. And yet by God’s grace, full of Christ’s unconditional love. Same is true for the gift of faith he gives you and calls you to believe. For Steve knew what and would want you to know what John declares so famously: that God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

And all those acts of service and love for others that Steve was so well known for. Well, those too are gifts given by God. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

Steve knew that all the areas of life where he served others were all prepared for him to walk in, not by his own hands, but by the hands of the greatest servant of all, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” As a ransom for Steve. As a ransom for you.

 

That’s why even in the suddenness of death, or in the unexpected twists and turns of life, the Lord of hosts is with us and the God of Jacob and the God of Steve is with us. He serves us with steadfast love. With an everlasting love. With his crucified and risen from the dead love.

 

This is what makes Christ the greatest servant of all. Our acts of love and service – much like our lives – come to an end, and sometimes suddenly and without warning. In those days and moments when our sins, fears, and failures are all we see…when our mortality glares back at us in the mirror – we find comfort not in our love and service, but in the love and mercy of Jesus the Servant of all who gave his life for all. In Jesus whose steadfast love Lord never ceases and whose mercies never come to an end. In Jesus, whose faithfulness is greater than our greatest fears, and greater than even the grave itself.

 

Yes, we grieve, but not as others do, who have no hope. For in Christ, there is hope…for Steve and for you and for us all…not in what our hands have done, but in the hands of Jesus our Servant and Savior. Our hope is in Jesus who served Steve and you by carrying our cross we deserved, dying the death we had coming, bearing our sin to his final breath. Our hope is in Jesus whose glorified, nail-scarred hands revealed to his disciples – and to us all - that he is risen from the dead for Steve and for you. Our hope is in Jesus who died and rose again that all who have fallen asleep – Steve, and the saints who have gone before us, and one day each of us too – will also rise from the dead. 

 

You see, our Lord is never done serving us in his grace and goodness. He has mercy and grace enough to last a lifetime, and more…an eternity. Our Lord is not done serving Steve or you with his promise…a promise that there will come a day where Jesus returns to bring us an endless day of his mercy. There will come a day when Christ the Servant of all returns as a glorious Savior. There will come a day when Jesus the crucified and risen servant will stand next to Steve’s grave and yours…and the angel will blow the trumpet. And Steve and you and all those who have fallen asleep in Christ will rise. In the body. A real. Physical. Glorified body that will continue to serve Christ in praise and thanksgiving in the new creation. 

 

There will come a day when our Lord Jesus takes all the hats we wear in this life, and he will exchange them for the crown of life and glory that he has prepared for you in eternal life. There will come a day when Steve’s faith, and our faith, will becomes sight. When the dead are raised. When Christ returns. And when our Lord Jesus who gave his life as a ransom to save Steve and you and us all, will continue to give and serve us with his gifts of eternal life.

Until that day, in all the ways our Lord has called you to serve, rest in the grace and mercy and hope of Jesus our Servant and Savior ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that …Steve, and each of you… might be saved through him.

The Peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.