Sermon for Advent 4: "God With Us"

 + 4^th Sunday in Advent – December 18^th, 2022 +

Series A: Isaiah 7:10-17; Romans 1:1-7; Matthew 1:18-25

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

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

 

What’s in a name? Shakespeare famously wrote. Names are given to us. Names are part of our identity. Names have meaning. Names have power. You are baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

 

And, as we hear in Matthew 1, names also tell us a story.

 

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

 

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,  and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 

 

Did you hear some of the names in Matthew’s gospel? There’s Joseph and Mary. There’s the title, Son of David. And then there are the two most important names in this story, and in the story of Scripture: Jesus. Immanuel.

 

Matthew’s account of Christmas is full of names. And what story do these names tell us? The greatest story of all…the story of God’s saving, gracious love for us in sending Jesus.

 

The name of Joseph takes us back to Genesis, to another man by the name of Joseph. He was betrayed by his brothers. Sold into slavery. Imprisoned. Eventually, the Lord gave him great authority over Egypt, and even his own brothers. And with that that power and authority he served, provided food for the people; he forgave his brothers and showed them mercy. Our Lord did all of this through Joseph in the OT so that one day, when another Joseph came along, this carpenter from Nazareth would also be called upon to serve and provide and care for the Christ Child who would in time serve, provide, and care for all people by his life and death on the cross.

 

The name of Mary, likewise, takes us back to the Old Testament, to Moses’ sister Miriam, who sang beautifully and triumphantly by the shores of the Red Sea: I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. Now in this child in her womb, who is Jesus, God in the flesh; he will accomplish a greater exodus through the grave and out again in his resurrection on the third day. Mary’s son, our Lord, has indeed conquered the Pharaoh of hell, drowned our sin in the Red Sea of our baptism, and rescued us from bondage and slavery to sin.

 

This is what our Lord promised King David, when he declared that there would be a ruler that would come forth from his family whose throne and reign would endure forever. Jesus is not only a son of David, born in his family tree through Mary, and cared for by one of his family tree in Joseph. Jesus is also the Son of David, a royal name that declares Jesus is the long-expected King who comes to rule and reign forever by his birth, life, death, and resurrection for us.

 

 

Jesus’ name tells us exactly who he is and what he came to do. Jesus means YHWH saves. The Lord saves. Who does he save? You. Me. All who believe in his saving name. What does he save us from? Sin, death, condemnation. Even before he is born, the angel tells Joseph, and all who hear these blessed words – the meaning and power and gift of this child he is to name Jesus. Jesus’ name tells us the story – which is the story of all Holy Scripture – the story of God’s grace and mercy come to save you from sin in Jesus.

 

“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

 

This is why Jesus came. For you. To fix what we had broken. To mend what was marred. To find us who were lost. To save us who were perishing. To ensure that ours will be a never-ending story in his saving name. Not only then. But now. Today. For Jesus is also Immanuel, which means God with us.

 

God with us in life and death.

God with us in joy and sorrow. 

God with us in calm and strife.

God with us in contentment and anxiety.

God with us in health and sickness.

God with us in trust and in doubt.

God with us in times of peace and pain.

God with us in our laughter and our weeping.

God with us on the cross, in the grave, and in His resurrection in which we are baptized.

God with us in his humble words that transform simple water into a flood of forgiveness.

God with us in his humble words that cause ordinary bread and wine to host a Christmas feast of his body and blood. 

 

God with us this Advent, and every day until he comes again…

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funeral Sermon for Mary Orr: "A Woman of the Word"

 + In Memoriam: Mary Orr – December 17^th, 2022 +

Psalm 20; Isiah 12:1-6; 2 Timothy 4:6-8; John 10:27-30

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Whenever I find myself in someone’s home near a bookshelf I enjoy taking a moment to browse what’s in their library. You can tell a lot about someone by the books they like read.

 

I remember visiting Mary at home a while back and noticed a neatly stacked pile of books; some she had read, others yet to read. Mary was a reader, a true bibliophile. She enjoyed a good mystery and adventure story, and no doubt countless other kinds of books. Most of all, though, Mary loved reading the Scriptures. God’s word dwelled with her richly and deeply. Her bible was always close by; on the table next to her favorite chair. Whenever she came to church, you could see her, bible in hand, as she came to church and sat down for bible study. It’s a habit we do well to emulate.

 

Safe to say that everywhere that Mary went, God’s Word was sure to go. Mary was a woman of the Word. In fact, Mary’s love of hearing, reading, learning, and inwardly digesting God’s Word reminds me of several other women named Mary in the Scriptures, who also heard and rejoiced in God’s holy, saving word. 

 

Remember Mary who taught us that there is a time for sitting at Jesus’ feet of Jesus’ and listen to his Word. 

 

Remember how Mary, the Mother of our Lord, responded when the angel Gabriel visited her and announced that she would be the mother of God. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”

 

Yes, Mary is in good company with the other Mary’s of Scripture. A woman of the Word. A saint, who like the Psalmist prays in Psalm 119 knew that God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. One of our Lord’s sheep, who, as Jesus says, hear the voice of Jesus who is our Good Shepherd.

 

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. When Mary carried God’s Word with her wherever she went, she did so because our Lord carried her each and every day by his word. 

 

It all began on the day of Mary’s baptism, when our Lord Jesus spoke his creative, life-giving word over the water, washed away her sin, and brought her into his sheepfold for all eternity. By water and God’s word, Jesus drew water from the well of salvation to give Mary eternal life, and no one can ever snatch her out of his hands. Jesus the Good Shepherd does the same for you as well; he leads you beside the still waters of your baptism to sit in the green pastures of his grace and mercy. 

 

Our Lord and His Word kept on following and carrying and comforting Mary throughout her life as well. From her days of studying books in college, to reading books with children and grandchildren; from her time spent keeping books and managing the church office God’s Word of God kept her going.

 

By his Word Jesus saved Mary, clothed and robed and washed her in the holy garments of his righteousness that covers all her sin, and yours. By his Word Jesus carried Mary through life, as he carries each of you as well. By his word, Jesus died and rose again, walking out of the tomb on Easter Sunday to open the kingdom of heaven to Mary, to you, and to all believers. By his word, Jesus will come again, and raise Mary, and you, and all the saints from the dead on that great day of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. 

 

This is what the psalmist in Psalm 20 is talking about. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

 

That’s how Mary lived and died, trusting in the name and word of the Lord who saved her, and saves you. Mary’s faith was not in her own words, but in Jesus’ word. When Jesus speaks things happen: the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk, the dead are raised. And, by his Word, will be raised when he comes again in glory when Mary, and all the faithful departed, will rise from the grave by his word.

 

For Mary, and for you, Jesus is a man of his Word. He is the very Word of God made flesh. God promised by his word to send Jesus, and it happened just as he said. Jesus said he would be handed over and betrayed into the hands of sinful men…and it happened, just as he said. Jesus said he would be crucified, die, and be buried…and it happened just as he said. Jesus said he would rise again from the grave on the third day…and it happened, just as he said. Jesus did and said all of this for Mary, for you, and for all.

 

There’s one other Mary in Scripture that I left out of the list earlier. This Mary, Mary Magdalene, stood outside of Jesus’ tomb weeping. First an angel and then Jesus came to her saying, “Why are you weeping?” Supposing Jesus to be the gardener she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”

 

And then, Jesus spoke her name. Mary, he said. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. She knew him by his word. So it is for our us all. We know Jesus by His Word and promise. And we are known by Jesus in his Word and promise.

 

To us, to Mary, and to all who now rest from their labors there will come a day, a day like that first Easter Sunday only greater; a day when it will not be us standing by Jesus’ grave and weeping like Mary Magdalene; a day when it will not be us standing by the grave of our loved ones here, weeping and grieving, but it will be our Lord Jesus standing by our grave, by Mary’s grave. And he will not be weeping. Christ will speak. He shout his creative, powerful, life-giving word once more and declare to Mary and all the faithful, “Awake, o sleeper and rise from the dead.” And we will. By his word.

 

Until that great day of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, O Lord, let it be to us according to your word. 

 

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

 

Sermon for 3rd Midweek Advent: "This is My Son: Absalom"

 + Advent Midweek 3 – December 14th, 2022 +

2 Samuel 18:24–33; Psalm 146:3–5; Ephesians 5:1–10; Matthew 22:41–46

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

One of the worst feelings parents have is when their child or children are in pain, sick, or suffering in any way. You feel helpless. You wish that you could take their cough, aches, or fever upon yourself. If only you could make their pain your own. If only you could trade places with them.

 

In 2 Samuel 18, that’s exactly how David felt about his son, Absalom. David wished that he could have died in his son, Absalom’s place. It’s a heartbreaking, tragic story. And yet ultimately, this father and son story points us to the love of our heavenly Father in sending His Son, Jesus to take our pain upon himself and trade places with us on the cross. 

 

In 2 Samuel chapters 13–18 the wickedness and depravity of mankind is on full display. This story contains God’s people committing acts of incest, rape, injustice, murder, scheming, rebellion, and war!

 

Here’s the quick recap. King David had nineteen sons from several different wives. Amnon was the first-born son of David and was in line to be king. But he lusted after his half-sister, Tamar. He faked being sick so that he could be cared for by her. When they were alone, he forced himself upon her. He then placed the blame on her and sent her away to hide in shame. 

 

When King David heard of this, he was angry, but he did nothing to punish Amnon. Absalom, who was the full brother of Tamar, was infuriated with Amnon and angry at David for not pursuing justice for Tamar. For two years, Absalom hated and plotted against Amnon until eventually, Absalom had Amnon murdered. Then Absalom fled into exile.  

 

Jump ahead three years. Joab, the captain of King David’s army, convinces David to bring back Absalom because he can tell that David misses him. But when Absalom returns to Jerusalem, he starts scheming all over again, this time against his own father, David. 

 

Using his natural good looks (the Bible describes him as very handsome with his long hair) and his charisma, Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel by speaking badly of David in the city gates while promoting himself. Absalom did this for four years until one day he left Jerusalem and sent secret messengers, who announced, “Absalom is made king at Hebron!” Thousands of Israelites rallied to him and joined the rebellion because of all the patient, hard work he had done to build up his reputation. 

 

Meanwhile, David fled from Jerusalem to spare the citizens there a battle when Absalom moved in to take the throne. David summoned those loyal to himself and amassed a great army. As the battle drew near, David stayed behind but instructed his army to deal gently with Absalom for David’s sake. Even after all of this, David still loved his son and desired mercy. 

 

On the day of battle, David’s army soundly defeated Absalom’s. As Absalom attempted to flee in the forest, his mule went under the thick branches of a tree, and his hair was caught in the tree so that Absalom was left to hang there. When Joab found him, he ignored the words of David and thrust three javelins into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive in the tree. 

 

When David heard of Absalom’s death, David wept and said, “O Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

 

It’s a tragic, heart-breaking story. A story of a son set against his father, and it reminds us just how ugly and divisive our own sin is as well. Absalom’s rebellion against his father David is a picture of our own rebellious sin against our heavenly Father. For there is a betraying, murderous, rebellious Absalom within each of us. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 15, that our of our hearts come all manner of evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile us. Like Absalom, we are constantly looking for my kingdom to come and my will to be done instead of our true Father’s will.

 

And yet, it’s not us who hanged on a tree suffering the curse of our sin. But rather Jesus, the true and greater Son of David. David’s true and greatest Son is also David’s Lord and yours; David’s redeemer and yours. David’s Savior and yours. The Son of God also became the son of a man—the true Son of David, in whom no sin or rebellion could be found, to carry out God’s promise that David’s kingdom would be established forever. 

 

As Paul writes, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse. Jesus went to the tree of the cross in your place. And there on the tree of the cross nails, spear pierced him through. The Son of God and Son of David went to the cross that we might be reconciled to our heavenly Father forever. And on the cross, David’s prayer becomes reality. Would that I had died instead of you. That’s exactly what Jesus does for you. He would rather die in your place than see you suffer. He gladly traded places with you.

 

And no matter how far you stray, no matter how violently you rebel, no matter how often you attempt to remove Him from the throne of your heart, God’s love for you in Jesus is always bigger. Always greater than your sin. Always merciful and abounding in steadfast love. And he always forgives you for the sake of the One who hung on the tree in your place. 

 

And in Jesus the Son of God and Son of David, you are, and always shall be children of the heavenly Father. 

 

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

 

Sermon for Advent 3: "Are You the One?

 + 3^rd Sunday in Advent – December 11^th, 2022 +

Series A: Isaiah 35; James 5:7-11; Matthew 11:2-15

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

“Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” The question comes from the darkness of a dungeon. The voice in the wilderness has been silenced, reduced to sending pairs of messengers to speak on his behalf. The prophet of repentance has been jailed for calling the king to repentance. The one who came to bear witness to the light sits in darkness awaiting a certain martyr’s death.

 

“Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Does John doubt? Would you blame him if he did? Hardly not. After all, he had plenty of reasons. Where was the axe swinging at the root? Where was the winnowing fork sorting the wheat from the chaff? Where was the baptism with holy wind and fire? Did he point to the wrong one? Are you the coming Messiah, Jesus, the Lamb of God, the one so great that I am not worthy to untie your sandals? 

 

“Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Perhaps John asks this question for the benefit of his disciples. He knows where he’s at. Herod’s dungeon. Unlike the movies and comic books, the hero doesn’t always make it out of the dungeon. John knows he’s not getting out of their alive. Out of the darkness of that prison, one last time, John points his disciples to the Christ who is the light of the world. 

 

Whatever the case may be, we can be thankful John asks the question. “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” This is the question of Advent. It’s the question the psalms ask over and over again. “Why, O Lord, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”(Psalm 10). “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13). “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22). 

 

There’s a biblical word for these kinds of questions when we direct them to God; they are prayers of lament. It might sound impious at first, but it’s just the opposite. Lament is a good and necessary prayer that we utter as we look at the world around us and wonder, where is God? Why do the wicked prosper? Why is everything so upside down, twisted, and broken? When will our Lord fix it, set it right, and put it all back together again. “Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?”

 

John’s question is a reminder that this season of Advent always begins in the dark. For John this was the darkness of Herod’s prison. John expected an axe of God’s wrath, a winnowing fork of judgment, a consuming fire, a holy wind. John expected a “messiah” – a strong man, a leader, an emancipator, a warrior and revolutionary, one who would come and set God’s people free. One who would come and restore throne and temple. One who would come to establish the kingdom of God upon the earth where lion and lamb, the carnivore and the herbivore, could lie together in peace and a little child could play near the adder’s den, and go to school, in safety.

 

Advent begins in the dark for us as well. The darkness of this fallen world to be sure. How quickly we become overwhelmed by darkness and death as we flip on the news, scroll through social media, and talk with our neighbors and loved ones. How quickly we become overwhelmed by the darkness within each of us as well. The fears, worries, and anxieties that keep us up at night. The doubts of faith we all have. The wondering where God is when I suffer. The questions we ask, like John, that seem to go unanswered in the dark. 

 

And yet, the season of Advent is a holy reminder that John was not alone in the dark of that dungeon. And neither are you. John did not receive what he expected, but something far better. The unexpected Light of Christ that pierces the darkness. The breaking in of the dawn of the new heaven and the new earth in the humble carpenter’s son from Nazareth. 

 

John received something unexpected. A baptized messiah willing to stand in solidarity with sinners. A humble messiah willing to eat with tax collectors and prostitutes. A lowly messiah who refused to use His divine power to feed his hunger or establish his kingdom. A meek messiah who endured the beatings of a world who didn’t want him. A crucified messiah who conquered the darkness by diving headlong into the black night, who defeated Death by being swallowed up into Death, and taking the world along for the ride. 

 

“Are you the One who is to come or shall we look for another?” The two disciples dutifully ask the dark question of Jesus. And in that hour, at that very moment, before their very eyes, Jesus did many signs – healing the sick, the lame, the demonized. Messiah-signs. “Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard. Tell John about the blind man who can see, the leper who can return home to his family, the lame man who is dancing, the poor who hear the good news. Tell John what you have seen and heard.”

 

Go and tell John. He is your neighbor and friend locked in the prison house of sin and death waiting to hear what you have seen and heard from Jesus, that his sin is covered, that he is justified, that there is light in the darkness and life in death, and meaning in suffering, and gain in loss all thanks to Jesus. Tell John about the signs – sinners cleansed from the leprosy of sin in Baptism, the dead raised to life by the word of forgiveness, the hungry and thirsty refreshed in the Body and Blood of the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.

 

Jesus comes to us in our Advent darkness as well. Where does Jesus finally answer John’s question? As he is crucified on the cross. Are you the one? Yes. I am. It is finished. For John. For you. For all.

Yes, I am he who came to save you. I am here to save you now, today. And I will come again to save you on the Last Day. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.  The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

 

And as we wait, Jesus does not leave us empty or alone in the dark. Still Jesus comes with Word and Sign. A cleansing bath of Baptism. The Body and Blood that bring forgiveness, life, and salvation. The Word the speaks a greater truth than the truth of your sin, your doubt, your despair. Light in the darkness. You are forgiven, my child; you are free. Your God has not abandoned you but has embraced you in these most God-forsaken of times. The Light has not gone out but shines in the darkness beckoning you, “Come to me, all you who are burdened and weary and frightened and alone and despairing. And I will give you rest and peace.”

 

“Are you the One who is to come, or shall we look for another?” Yes, our Lord replies. A thousand times yes. I am the One who is to come, who came, and who will come again. There is no other. I am your hope in doubts. Your strength in weakness. Your life in death. Your light in the darkness. 

 

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

 

Funeral Sermon for Sue McCann: "The Gardener"

 + In Memoriam: Sue McCann – December 10^th, 2022 +

Psalm 103; Isaiah 65:17-25; Philippians 4:4-13; Luke 24:1-12

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

There’s a line in the classic book, the Secret Garden, that came to mind this week…“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” As I read it, I couldn’t help but think of Sue.

 

For if the world is a garden, our dear sister in Christ, Sue, was one of those people who had a God-given gift and ability to be a gardener, a caretaker, a planter. 

 

On any given day if you were to drop by the McCann house, that’s where you would most likely find Sue, cultivating her garden. Trimming the roses; picking the raspberries. Preparing plants for gifts that many of us have received from her over the years. Tending the dill, garlic, and cucumbers that would eventually make their way into jars of pickles, much to the delight of family and friends alike. I have it on good authority that Sue became quickly known as the pickle grandma among the grandchildren of the family.

 

For Sue, the garden wasn’t the only place she spent time planting, sowing, and gardening. There were countless hours spent cultivating the McCann home, nurturing and raising a family…children, then grandchildren, who, in the words of the Psalms, grew up around the family table like olive shoots. No doubt, each cared for by Sue with her green thumb and loving heart. 

 

That, of course, is no accident. For Sue loved as Christ had first loved her. By water and word, our Lord grafted her into His own death and resurrection. In the waters of her baptism, Christ the Vine made Sue one of his precious branches, and throughout her life, she bore the fruit of faith in Christ. After all, the Lord had made her, as he makes all of us who believe in him, good trees joined to the tree of his cross who bear fruit by his love and forgiveness planted and sown in our hearts and minds by His living, life-giving word.

 

Wherever Sue went, she was a gardener, a caretaker, a planter. At home she sowed seeds that grew plants, here at church she sowed the seed of God’s word. She planted God’s word and tended to the hearts and minds of those she taught in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School; in preschool and ladies’ bible study. She knew that apart from God’s word, apart from Christ the Vine, we wither and die. But she also knew that in the Lord’s word is life and blessing, like we hear in Psalm 103.

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,   and all that is within me,  bless his holy name!
² Bless the Lord, O my soul,  and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity,
    who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit,  who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good  so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

 

Even as she laid in bed battling cancer – to the eyes of the world, weak and ill – she knew that the Lord would do what he promised. He would tend and care for her and bring her healing, if not in this life, then in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. She knew and trusted and believed that it was the Lord who strengthened her, despite feeling weak and sick. Sue knew and trusted and believed in the Lord’s promise from Isaiah 65…

 

“For behold, I create new heavens   and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered
    or come into mind.

Isaiah’s words are words of hope and comfort. They direct our eyes up from this fallen and cursed dirt of death and the grave and beckon us to look forward to the new creation that came for Sue and for you in Jesus’ dying and rising. To a day when cancer and all disease will be no more. Where hospital beds will no longer be needed. Where we will once again walk with our Lord Jesus in the cool of the garden in the new heavens and the new earth he is preparing for Sue and for all who die in the faith. 

 

This is what gave Sue comfort even in her last days, and what gives us comfort today, knowing that she and all who are baptized and believe, are rooted deeply in the love and life of Jesus. We are cultivated in the love of Christ crucified. All of those things Sue loved – her love of plants, her love of people, her love of Jesus – it was all sown in her heart and mind by the one who has the greatest green thumb of them all, our Lord Jesus.

 

It was at his word that God, the holy horticulturist, first spoke creation into existence, creating a beautiful garden out of nothing. It was at his Word that even in the midst of Adam and Eve’s sin, God promised a Savior from sin and death and the curse. It was at his word that Jesus took on our human flesh to die and be buried, and sown as a seed in the ground only to rise again three days later to bear the fruit of resurrection and victory over the grave. 

 

As the angels told the disciples on that first Easter: “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 

 

Everywhere Jesus went, and in everything he did, he was the gardener, the caretaker, the planter. Jesus was sown in death on Good Friday, sprouted and rose again to new life on Easter Sunday so that when he comes again he will call us and Sue and all the baptized out of our graves on the Last Day. Jesus wore a crown of thorns of this old creation so that in his dying and rising he would crown us in glory, make us into a new creation, and raise us from the dead with a glorified, resurrected body. 

 

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.

 

On that day, the Lord who called creation into being out of nothing will once again speak, call us each by name as he did Lazarus…Sue, and all the faithful, arise. And we will. Out of the grave and into his new creation.

 

On that day we will be raised as Jesus was, in the flesh; free from sin, disease, and death. Free for an eternity of praising the Lamb who was slain for us all.

 

On that day we will stand in the presence of our Lord Jesus and rejoice with Sue and all the saints in the new heavens and new earth created by him who died and rose again for us all. 

 

Until that day, as Sue once told me, we keep our eyes on Jesus. For Jesus the Gardener who planted and cared for Sue will plant, tend, and nurture you in his word and promise. For Sue and for you, the love and promises of our Lord Jesus crucified and risen never fails, fades, or withers. Jesus’ love for Sue and for you is perennial. His mercies are new every morning. The grass may wither and flowers may fade…but Jesus’ word and life, for Sue and for you, remains forever.

 

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

 

Funeral Sermon for Arlo Olson: "The Delivery Man"

 + In Memoriam – Arlo Olson – December 3^rd, 2022 +

Isaiah 46:3-4; Romans 8:31-39; John 14:1-6

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

There’s a famous speech by radioman Paul Harvey that begins this way…

 

“And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.” 

 

And even though Arlo realized at an early age that farming was not his calling or vocation in life, seems to me that the same could be said of his life driving trucks. God said, “I need someone to sit behind the wheel of a long-haul truck for eighteen hours so people the driver doesn’t know and will never meet can have food on their tables and clothes on their backs and shoes on their feet.” So God made a trucker. 

 

God said, “I need someone who will haul heavy equipment from one construction site to another so people have a place to live and work; someone with calloused hands but a compassionate heart; someone to deliver what folks need.” So God made a trucker.

 

From what I’ve come to know, that was Arlo. A delivery man. And not just outside the home, but in the home, with family and friends a well. Whether he was with his own family at home or at church with the family of God, Arlo was still a delivery man, sharing the love and compassion Christ had first given him with others around him. 

 

After all, it was our Lord Jesus who first delivered Arlo out of sin and death in the waters of holy baptism. There by water and God’s word, Arlo was united with Christ’s death and resurrection. As Paul writes in Colossians 1, God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 

That’s the sure and certain promise Jesus delivered to Arlo and delivers to all of you who are baptized in his holy name. 

 

God’s deliverance is not a one-time job, however. And so throughout Arlo’s life, from Minnesota to Milton, our Lord Jesus continued to deliver his saving word and forgiveness to Arlo. Even as Arlo walked through the valley of the shadow of death, Jesus the Good Shepherd was with him. Delivering him through death to his presence forever. Our Lord does the same for you as well. This is what he promises through his prophet Isaiah.

 

 “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
⁴ even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.

 

I will carry. I will bear. I will save. It is for you as it was for Arlo – all by God’s grace. The prophet Isaiah foretells what Jesus fulfills in the New Testament. That our Lord Jesus is the greatest delivery man of them all.

 

On days like today when we grieve and mourn. On days when our own sin and failures overwhelm. On days when death itself stares us in the face. On days when we long for our Lord to deliver us, we cry out with St. Paul the words of Romans 8:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be^[i] against us?  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 

Indeed he will. He already has. Christ our Lord has delivered you as he delivered Arlo. Jesus took our sin and guilt, our fear and shame, our doubts and worries, even death itself and he loaded it like a weighed down eighteen wheeler, all upon his shoulders as he went to the cross to deliver you. And that means that nothing -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.

And yet, that was not the end of the road for our Lord. It was the end of sin and death and the power of the devil, but it was the beginning of new life and resurrection for you and Arlo and all who believe. The salvation job was completed on the cross, but Jesus seals his victory over sin and death with a long-haul through the grave and out again in his resurrection on the third day for Arlo and for you.

Because of that great act of deliverance – Jesus’ death for you and his resurrection for you – he promises to deliver you and Arlo once again. Even now, as he told his disciples, he is preparing a place for you with him. Even now as we rejoice that we have been delivered from sin and death, we long for and look forward to another great deliverance, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Even as we grieve, we do so with hope in the resurrection of our flesh and a joyful reunion with those we love who have died in the faith.

For our Lord promises you, as he promised Arlo, that “Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

 

This is who our Lord is and what he does for Arlo and for you. Jesus delivers you. He delivered you from sin and death by his dying and rising. And he will deliver you, along with Arlo and all the faithful departed, yet again. A deliverance into a new creation, into a new and glorified yet physical, bodily resurrection. He will deliver us into his eternal presence where we will stand with Arlo and all the saints in the resurrection of our flesh, standing before the Lamb, forever praising his great deliverance.

 

Until that day, the Lord continue to deliver his goods of life and salvation to you.

 

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

 

 

Sermon for Advent 2: "The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand"

 + 2^nd Sunday in Advent – December 4^th, 2022 +

Series A: Isaiah 11:1-10; Romans 15:4-13; Matthew 3:1-12

Beautiful Savior Lutheran

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Can you imagine what it would be like if John the Baptist showed up at your house this Advent season? There you are enjoying a festive party with family and friends, Christmas music is playing, everyone is wearing their best ugly Christmas sweaters and a guy wearing camel skins barges in like a gangster in the Home Alonemovie…Merry Christmas you filthy animals! Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

 

There’s a reason Hallmark doesn’t have any Advent cards with John the Baptist featured on the cover…”Happy Advent, you brood of vipers!” In a season of lights and sounds and smells, John the Baptist is a bit jarring isn’t he. John makes us uncomfortable. It’s not his wardrobe or diet choice, though camel’s hair, locust and wild honey sound a bit odd. When John stands before us, as he does today, it’s not his wardrobe that makes us squirm, it’s his words. John’s a straight shooter. He preaches the truth. John is the voice crying out in the wilderness that Isaiah and Micah foretold would come before the dawning day of the Messiah.

 

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

 

John’s message is simple. It’s a message of Preparation. Prepare the way of the Lord. How? Repentance and forgiveness. Why? Jesus, the promised King has arrived. His kingdom is at hand.

 

When the Scribes and Pharisees come out to see what all the hullabaloo in the wilderness was about they were greeted with John’s word of warning, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” 

 

How’s that for a welcome? Children of serpents. Isn’t John being a little harsh? Why does John say this? This is why; the standard in the kingdom of heaven wasn’t that they belonged in Abraham’s family tree, but whether or not they belonged to Jesus’ family tree through faith in him; not that they trusted in their own works, but in the work he came to do. “Do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”

 

John preached the truth to the Pharisees and Scribes gathered there in the 1^st century. For us in the 21^stcentury, John speaks the truth as well. True, we’re not the scribes and pharisees. And while he’s not calling us a brood of vipers, John is still God’s mouthpiece for us this Advent season. 

 

And what does John have to say to us here in the 21^st century? The same message he preached so long ago as he prepared the world for the coming Messiah. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

 

John preaches the truth about us. The truth about our sin. The truth that it leads to our ruin. John is like the home inspector who comes in when you sell or buy a house. He goes into the crawl spaces, opens the dusty attic and says, “Well, you’ve got mold growing under your house, termites in the walls, and asbestos in the ceiling panels, and a whole bunch of other stuff…you need to tear down and rebuild.” That’s John the Baptist. God’s divine demolition worker.

 

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!

 

To repent is to have a change of mind. That’s what the word repent literally means. To change your mind, your thinking. It’s not about behaving yourself. That comes later. That’s bearing the fruits of repentance. But repentance is a total flip of the mind and the will - which only God can and does work, by his word. The word that John preaches to us today. The time is at hand. There is no tomorrow. No procrastination. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 

 

If John were standing in our living rooms or barging into our Christmas parties he’d warn us not to rely on our goodness, our holiness, our works, our piety, our prayers, our anything. He’d tell us in no uncertain terms that if we haven’t repented, we need to repent and remember who we are and who God is. He’d also tell us that even if we have repented we still need to repent of thinking that our repentance is enough. 

 

This is how God’s law works on us sinners. The Law says “do this,” and it is never done. God gives us his Law to prepares the way for the Gospel. God sent John to prepare the way for Jesus. 

 

And in Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. He is kingdom of heaven in human flesh. Jesus comes to do for you what you cannot do for yourself. Keep God’s Law, every word of it. He lives the life that needs no repentance and does so for you. Jesus is the mighty one whose sandals John is not worthy to untie and yet he stoops down and washes his disciples’ feet in humility and then goes to the cross to die in humility for you. Jesus takes the axe that is laid to the root of our sin and swings it right into the tree of his own cross. Jesus the rightful judge of heaven and earth came to be judged in our place for all our failures to repent, for all the times we’ve thought that by our own repentance we can win his love, for all the bad fruit that our hands and hearts and minds have produced and will produce.

 

In simple, ordinary water and word, Jesus made you a citizen of his kingdom, and planted you in him and joined you forever to his death and resurrection. He is the Vine, we are the branches. And in Christ, you bear that good fruit that John preaches about. 

 

What does that look like to live a life of repentance today? To bear fruit of repentance is to confess the name of Jesus in the face of a world which thinks that everything about our faith is foolish. To bear fruit is to confess our sins for God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness; and to confess when we have sinned against each other. To bear fruit is to live in the Word of God, here in our Lord’s house and in our homes in our families. To bear fruit is to live in mercy and love towards your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ: a card, a phone call, a visit, a word that builds up, encourages, and forgives. To bear fruit is to bear one another’s burdens. To bear fruit is to be a light in the darkness of this fallen world as you go about your daily vocations in the home, among your neighbors, at work, and everywhere you go. To bear fruit is to realize that all of these things - from repentance to the fruit of repentance - is worked in you through the same Lord who was working through John to prepare his way.

 

Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. But also rejoice, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When you were baptized into our Lord’s death and resurrection Jesus’ kingdom was at hand, and is at hand every day as you live in his baptismal mercy. When you hear God’s word of promise and forgiveness, Jesus’ kingdom is at hand. When you receive the fruit of his cross in his holy body and blood today, Jesus’ kingdom is at hand for you. And throughout this Advent season, the kingdom of heaven is at hand for that kingdom is Jesus who comes to save you.

 

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