Higher Things

Reflections

Advent and Christmas Dec. 1, 2013—Jan. 11, 2014

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2014 Reflections Advent and Christmas

December 1-December 21 Reflections were written by Rev. Donavon Riley, pastor of St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Webster, Minnesota. December 22-January 11 Reflections were written by Rev. Mark Buetow, the pastor of Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Du Quoin, Illinois. Pastor Buetow is also the Deputy Executive of Higher Things.

2014 Reflections Editorial Staff: Rev. Mark Buetow (Editor) Mrs. Katie Hill (Assistant Editor/Layout Design) Mrs. Lu Fischer (Copy Editor) Mrs. Kay Maiwald (Copy Editor) Mr. Stan Lemon (Technology Executive) Mr. Jon Kohlmeier (Webmaster) Rev. Aaron Fenker (Audio Editor) ©2014 Higher Things, Inc.

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Martin Luther’s Morning and Evening Prayers taken from

the Small Catechism of Dr. Martin Luther

Unless otherwise noted, Biblical quotations are from the NKJV.

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NOTES:

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The First Sunday of Advent December 1, 2013 Today's Reading: Matthew 21:1-9 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 7:10-8:8; 1 Peter 3:1-22 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9; Psalm 118:26)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Hosanna is an old Hebrew word. It’s a word of praise and thanksgiving to God for all His kindnesses. It means “Help us,” or, “Save us now.” The crowds shout “Hosanna to the Son of David,” when Jesus comes because they believe, from what they have heard and seen of Jesus, that He is the Savior whose coming has long been promised by Israel's prophets.

But, like us—like all sinners—they don't expect a Messiah who suffers and dies for their sins, who becomes sin and a curse, they expect Superman. The crowds that day, like everybody else, didn't want a Savior who does a stupid thing like suffer, die, and rise from the dead. They wanted one who never dies. We want a Superman who saves us from burning buildings, but Jesus comes to save us from the fires of hell. We want a Savior who keeps us from having to die, but Jesus will keep us from eternal death. We want to be saved from discomfort, pain, sickness, and economic insecurity, but Jesus saves us from slavery to our sin and death which causes these things. We want to be saved from momentary unhappiness, but Jesus will give us eternal joy.

The cry of “Hosanna in the highest,!” only sounds out of tune when we look to God as a Superman, or worse, as a divine vending machine programmed to dispense Cokes, cigarettes, lost keys, and freedom from acid reflux to anyone who has the right coins. We don’t tell the Son of David who He is. He tells us. His chief concern is to be Himself for you. This means “He who comes in the name of the LORD” comes to lead us through death into life. He comes to bind us to Himself, so that His death is our death. His rising is our rising. His joys are our joys. It means, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Come then, O Lord Jesus, From our sins release us. Keep our hearts believing, That we, grace receiving, Ever may confess You Till in heav'n we bless You. (Once He Came in Blessing LSB 333:4)

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Monday of the First Week of Advent December 2, 2013 Today's Reading: Jeremiah 23:5-8 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 8:9-9:7; 1 Peter 4:1-19 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; a King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely; now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Martin Luther had been taught as a young monk that the righteousness of God is the judgment of God with which He judges sinners according to His perfect, holy law. God's righteousness was legal. It was about how people were moved to obey God's commands or not. But for Luther, this was the trouble. This kind of righteousness could give no certainty about how he was doing in keeping God's commands. And God was so distant, so removed from everyday life, He seemed an impersonal judge more than anything else. It was as if God put men on earth just to test them—to see how they did in obeying His commands, so He could judge them.

Then Luther discovered the true meaning of righteousness in St. Paul's letter to the Romans: that God justifies sinners for Christ's sake while they are yet sinners. God's righteousness is God's forgiveness. It's not the law but Christ who is the righteousness of God, whom Jeremiah is talking about. We are regarded as righteous by God's grace apart from any service or work. Our sins are forgiven, covered, not counted, forgotten for Christ's sake. THE LORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS is Jesus, who was revealed to us apart from the law, who was pointed to by the Law and the Prophets—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (Romans 3:22). We are not righteous because we have done our best to do what God commands. We are righteous because Jesus perfectly did what His Father willed. The Lord Jesus is our righteousness. He doesn't see or count our sins, but covers them with His own precious blood, His innocent suffering and death that we may be His own, live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Sins debt, that fearful burden, Cannot His love erase; Your guilt the Lord will pardon And cover by His grace. He comes, for you procuring The peace of sin forgiv'n. His children thus securing Eternal life in heav'n. (O Lord, How Shall I Meet You LSB 334:6)

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A Simple Form for Reflection Adapted from Luther’s Small Catechism As soon as you get out of bed in the morning or before bed, you should bless yourself

with the sign of the Holy Cross and say:

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

Pray the Psalm for the week.

The Holy Gospel is then read.

Read the Reflection for the Day.

Pray the Apostle’s Creed

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was

buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He

ascended into Heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty. From

thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the

forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.”

Then, kneeling or standing, say the creed and pray the Lord’s Prayer. If you wish, you

may then pray this little prayer as well:

In the Morning:

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You

have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I pray that You would keep

me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You.

For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your

holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.”

In the Evening:

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You

have graciously kept me this day; and I pray that You would forgive me all my sins

where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I

commend myself, my body and soul and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me,

that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.”

After that, with joy go about your work and perhaps say the Ten Commandments or sing

a hymn. At night, go to sleep immediately with joy.

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Saturday after Epiphany January 11, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 33:1-20; Romans 3:1-18 I have found My servant David; With My holy oil I have anointed him, (Psalm 89:20 from the Introit for the Baptism of Our Lord) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Christ.” It means “anointed.” The Hebrew word is “Messiah.” It means the same thing, “anointed.” Anointing was when someone or something got oil poured on them to show that they had been set apart by God for a special purpose. It marked that the Spirit had selected this person to be used by the Lord for something. When Jesus is baptized, the Spirit lands on Him and the Father speaks. Jesus' baptism is also His anointing. Dove, Voice and preacher all point to Him as the One who has been set apart by the Father for this purpose: to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus' anointing, showing that He is the Messiah and Christ, is like telling the world, “Pay attention to this man. He is selected by God the Father to be the world's Savior. What He does, He does for the world. He does it for you.” And what He is anointed for is the work of saving sinners. By taking their sins, suffering for them and dying on the cross. He's the Man who can do that and save us all. But Jesus being anointed, pointed out by the Father as the Savior, also foreshadows your being anointed. When you were baptized, you were anointed. You were set apart by the Father for a special purpose: to be His child. He called you out of darkness into light and from death to life. By your anointing with the water and the Word, God has chosen you to be His own. He chooses you in Christ to be His child. You are, in a way a “little Christ,” because Christ lives in you. The Anointed One of God, His own Son, now lives in you and therefore you are a son of God. That's what God does in His grace and mercy. Tomorrow in the Divine Service, you will remember your baptism and how, in that saving flood, the Anointed One anointed and chose you to be His own forever. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. The Father's Word, the Spirit's flight Anointed Christ in glorious sight As God's own choice, from Adam's fall To save the world and free us all. (To Jordan's River Came Our Lord, LSB 405:5)

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Tuesday of the First Week of Advent December 3, 2013 Today's Reading: Romans 13:8-14 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 9:8-10:11; 1 Peter 5:1-14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Romans 13:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In Romans 6:3-4, St. Paul writes, “...as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”

Likewise, in Galatians 3:27, he writes that, “...as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

This is a nuclear blast for those who fear that Christians might do nothing “that grace may abound.” Here Paul not only says that we make no provision for the flesh, but that we live and move and have our being in Christ on account of baptism. We have literally died and been raised from the dead, apart from the law, and sin, and death which do nothing day and night except enslave us to our lusts, to produce more sin and more death in our members.

But, as St. Paul writes, “those who are in Christ Jesus...do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom. 8:1-2)

St. Paul speaks throughout his letter to the Romans about the facts. You are dead on account of baptism. You are alive in Christ, too. You live according to the Spirit. You are free. Yet, do not use your freedom as an opportunity to sell yourself back into slavery to the law of sin and death. Instead, serve each other in the fear of Christ (Ephesians 5:21).

Love one another, for this is the fulfillment of the law. That is, by faith in Christ's words and works you have fulfilled the whole law (Romans 3:31), and by your death and new life in the Spirit, you will produce fruits of love, because you are in Christ, who is active in you to produce and accomplish His good will, freely and spontaneously, even into eternity. Thy works, not mine, O Christ, Speak gladness to this heart; They tell me all is done, They bid my fear depart. To whom save Thee, Who canst alone For sin atone, Lord shall I flee? (Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ LSB 565:1)

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Wednesday of the First Week of Advent December 4, 2013

Today's Reading: Creed, First Article, Part 1 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 10:12-27, 33-34; 2 Peter 1:1-21

I believe that God has made me and all creatures (The Small Catechism, The Apostles’ Creed, First Article)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. No matter where you begin, if you try to get at the First Article of the Creed without Jesus as your mediator, you will discover a God who wants you dead. Without Jesus, God is not Creator. He is Judge, and His wrath appears to break loose everywhere. God is destroying whole cities with tornados. He stirs up war and bloodshed. He does nothing about the children who are dying from starvation by the tens of thousands every day. How could God do these things? Because He is God and you're not. More than that, “There is none righteous, no, not one. There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable. There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have practiced deceit.” “The poison of asps is under their lips.” “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18) From what St. Paul describes, how can God not destroy what He has made?

That is what it means to approach the First Article without Christ. Without Christ, God is a stony wall. He offers no apologies, no words which bring comfort. He is blameless in his wrath because you rebelled, you broke his law, you tried to play creator, so you are to blame for everything. But now, St. Paul writes, “the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed...the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” (Romans 3:21,22). For Christ's sake it has been revealed to us that God does not want to be known as Judge, but as Creator and Father. And in Jesus that's exactly what we receive by faith. The wrath of God is quenched. Everything in fallen creation has met its end in Jesus' blood and death. In Christ's resurrection, the Father has placed all things under His authority so that we, as Jew and Gentile, may be reconciled to God on account of Christ, and receive as creatures all we need for this body and life with thanks and praise.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! O my soul, praise Him, for He is your health and salvation! Let all who hear Now to His temple draw near, Joining in glad adoration! (Praise to the Lord, the Almighty LSB 790:1)

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Friday after Epiphany January 10, 2014 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 18:1-4,19-32; Romans 2:17-29 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God. (Romans 2:28-29)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Are you Jewish? Can you trace your family tree all the way back to Abraham in the Old Testament? Those questions actually don't matter. For St. Paul says that what makes us descendants of Abraham is that we are made so by the Spirit. Being a “descendant of Abraham” or “a Jew” is about being in a family. The Lord's family. Jesus can trace His human family tree back to Abraham in particular (and ultimately back to Adam; Matthew and Luke have both genealogies). Jesus' sacrifice is for all sinners. He doesn't leave anyone out. The Epiphany of our Lord to the wise men is meant to show us this. There is no one who is excluded from what Jesus has accomplished. There is no one, anywhere, ever, who is not justified and reconciled to God by what Christ has done. Sadly, many refuse to believe it. They refuse this gift. Though the gift is theirs, they do not want it. Many descendants of Israel today are this way. So are many Gentiles. They want no part of Christ and His gifts. But you have His gifts. They are for you. He has given them to you. On the cross. At the font. On the altar. There they are. In His Word, declaring to you that by the Spirit, you are one of the family. You have Abraham as your father, if not by blood, then by faith. For the same promises Abraham was given are the same promises given to you: The Heir saves us from our sins and brings us into the family forever. Jews and Gentiles. It doesn't really matter. What matters is Jesus who is the Savior of all people. Of Jewish shepherds. Of Gentile wise men. Of you. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. In Christ there is no east or west, In Him no south or north, But one great fellowship of love Throughout the whole wide earth. (In Christ There Is No East or West, LSB 653:1)

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Thursday after Epiphany January 9, 2014 Today's Reading: Ephesians 3:1-12 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 3:12-27; Romans 2:1-16 The Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel, (Ephesians 3:6) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus was a Jew. He was born in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David. But He didn't just come to save the descendants of Abraham from their sins. He came to save Gentiles, too. The word “Gentile” means “the nations.” Often, by those who thought they were better simply because they were Jewish, the word had a bad meaning, almost like an insult. It's important to recall that in the Old Testament, lots of non-Jewish people were saved and made a part of the children of Israel. There was Rahab of Jericho and Ruth from Moab. The Word of God was preached by many of the prophets to many places other than Israel. Jonah preached to Nineveh. That was a big Gentile city. It’s no surprise, then, that Jesus came to be a light to lighten the Gentiles as well. No surprise that the Lord would lead the wise men of Persia to little Jesus. No surprise that after His death, resurrection and ascension, the Lord sent His apostles to the ends of the earth. They preached repentance and forgiveness in Jesus' name to all people. So it is no surprise that He should have called you to be His child. It doesn't matter what country you are from or what race you are. What Jesus did, He did for you and the whole world. The children of Israel were special because they were the particular people through whom the Lord fulfilled the promise of sending the Savior. But that Savior came for all people. Jesus sent His apostles to make disciples “of all nations” by baptizing them and teaching them. That's you. Baptized into Christ. Now you, even though you are a Gentile, are an heir to all the good and wonderful promises and treasures in Christ. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Lift up your eyes in wonder—See, nations gather yonder From sin to be set free. The world has heard Your story; Her sons come to Your glory; Her daughters haste Your light to see. (Arise and Shine in Splendor, LSB 396:4)

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Thursday of the First Week of Advent December 5, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 11:1-12:6; 2 Peter 2:1-22 “O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’” (Isaiah 12:1-2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The wrath of God was revealed from heaven against all ungodliness (Romans 1:19). But this anger is never just about retribution. God isn't sitting on His heavenly throne waiting for us to sin. God's anger pours out against us. It is revealed, because we are anti-God, driven by a god-killing mania which is never satisfied. We never want God to be God for us. We want to sit in judgment of God, even to the point of handing down a death sentence upon Him. So we are without excuse when God speaks against us with furious anger.

But now, God's wrath has been turned away. God's furious anger has been replaced by a word of comfort. How is this possible? What did we do to deserve this? Nothing. Instead, another One took our place, receiving in His own body what was meant for us. His name is Jesus, that is, “God is my salvation.”

It is He whom God set forth as a Mercy Seat by faith in His blood. This was to declare His righteousness through the passing over of former sins in the forbearance of God, to declare in the present time the righteousness that stands before Him that He alone might be righteous by making him righteous who believes in Jesus, a mercy seat for the forgiveness of sins by His blood (Romans 3:24-25).

What was promised has finally arrived. God's wrath has come. The Lord has come, and He is not just a Lord, He is my Lord. Jesus, the Mercy Seat, who is born, lives, and dies for the sole purpose of taking our place, to face God's wrath for you. Jesus, a Mercy Seat for the forgiveness of sins by His blood. Your sins. All sins. Behold, all things are new. God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. He is my strength and song. Jesus, my salvation. Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior, Turned away God's wrath forever; By His bitter grief and woe, He saved us from the evil foe. (Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Savior LSB 627:1)

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Friday of the First Week of Advent December 6, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 14:1-23; 2 Peter 3:1-18 “All the kings of the nations, All of them, sleep in glory, Everyone in his own house; But you are cast out of your grave Like an abominable branch, Like the garment of those who are slain, Thrust through with a sword, Who go down to the stones of the pit, Like a corpse trodden underfoot. (Isaiah 14:18-19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? Why do the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed? (Psalm 2) Because they hate the Gospel!

The prophet proclaims the Messiah will be “abominable” and “trodden underfoot.” This occurs not because Jesus came to bring a better law of love than Moses delivered. This happens because Jesus comes forgiving sinners liberally without any consideration for their worthiness. Yet, those who rule (and are ruled) by endless laws, works and requirements, know the piper must be paid. Justice must be dealt out. And if there is any mercy to be had, it only delays punishment. But Jesus goes beyond the law to make a new creation which marks the end of the law. For kings and nations who seek their righteousness and glory by the law this is inconceivable. God comes in the flesh, not to repair any cracks in the law, but to burst the seams of the law so that forgiveness, life, and salvation may pour out without anything to hold back their effluence.

In this new kingdom of forgiveness Christ alone is King. By His blood, which the kings and nations gladly shed to be rid of Him, there is redemption from sin and death itself and reconciliation for all people with the Father. This is how God meets all who would trod His corpse underfoot—not with a thunderclap of judgment, but with the words of the risen Christ: “Take and drink, this is the New Testament in my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.” He comes to judge the nations, A terror to His foes, A light of consolations And blessed hope to those Who love the Lord's appearing. O glorious Sun, now come, Send forth Your beams so cheering, And guide us safely home. (O Lord, How Shall I Meet You LSB 334:6)

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Wednesday after Epiphany January 8, 2014 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 2:1-3:11; Romans 1:18-32 [He] has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death., (The Creed, Second Article) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It's a nice gesture that the Wise Men bring Jesus some gold. But He's got for them an even greater treasure. More than gold. More than any kind of riches or precious metal. He's got His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death for them. This is the price Jesus pays to win us from all sin, death, and the power of the devil. Coming out of Christmas and past Epiphany, we're still thinking a bit about baby and little infant Jesus. But always remember. He was born not to prove God can be cute and cuddly. He was born to cash in that treasure. To spill His blood. To suffer and die for sinners. The great part about these words from the Catechism is that they so clearly and simply summarize what it is that Jesus did. The Creed says He “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.” The Catechism expounds on that a bit by saying why He did it and what it was for. This one paragraph will keep you from being confused by all the fake Jesuses out there who do something other than die for your sins. The other great part about what the Catechism points out here is that this isn't just metaphorical or picture language. When we are in the Divine Service, this very same Jesus gives us this treasure when He feeds us with His body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. In essence, these words remind us of the heart of our Christian faith and life: Jesus who died for sinners, who delivers that forgiving blood to us now. The Wise Men offered their precious gifts to Jesus but it is Jesus who offers the most precious and saving gift for us. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Abide with us, O Lord, we pray; The gloom of darkness chase away; Your work of healing, Lord, begin, And take away the stain of sin. (From God the Father, Virgin-Born, LSB 401:4)

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Tuesday after Epiphany January 7, 2014 Today's Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6 Daily Lectionary: Ezekiel 1:1-14, 22-28; Romans 1:1-17 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. (Isaiah 60:3)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. We tend to think of the light from the star was leading the Wise Men to the Child Jesus. But what really drew them is the light of Christ. That light shines through the Word of God. Perhaps the magi, the Wise Men, knew the promises of the Old Testament. The Israelites, after all, had been captives in Babylon years before. It may very well be that the Wise Men had heard these prophecies before. That's why when they saw the star, they knew to go and investigate further. Like moths to a flame, the Light of Christ draws people to Him. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. This is what the Word does. It draws us to Christ who is our Light. What is remarkable is that this Light shines in the darkness—not just the darkness of a world overcome with sin—The literal darkness. Remember Jesus, on the cross, when the sun was darkened. There on Calvary, the flame of God's wrath burns bright and the glory of God is seen in the Son of God suffering and dying for your sins. Isaiah's prophecy is fulfilled when the Wise Men are led to Jesus, but also when other Gentiles come to Christ. You were brought to Jesus. At the font. Carried there and handed (or your sponsors were handed) a candle that symbolized Jesus as the Light of the world. But in those baptismal waters you were truly enlightened. The darkness of sin was put to flight and the Light of Christ now shines in you because He lives in you. Wherever the darkness of sin and despair creeps is and overshadows, the Light of Christ is there to dispel it. Sin, death, and the devil seek to thrive in the darkness. But the Light of Christ scatters them like cockroaches when you flip the lights on. Christ drives out the darkness and gives you the Light of His grace and forgiveness forever. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Come, heav'nly Bridegroom, Light divine, And deep within our hearts now shine; There light a flame undying! In Your one body let us be As living branches of a tree, Your life our lives supplying. Now, though daily Earth's deep sadness May perplex us And distress us, Yet with heav'nly joy You bless us. (O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright, LSB 395:2)

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Saturday of the First Week of Advent December 7, 2013 Today's Reading: Introit for Advent 2 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 24:1-13; 1 John 1:1-2:14 The land shall be entirely emptied and utterly plundered, For the LORD has spoken this word. (Isaiah 24:3, from the Introit for Advent 2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God's wrath is apocalyptic. It is cosmic in its scope. When God passes judgment there is no excuse for the unrighteous and the ungodly. His furious anger isn't just directed at the people who deserve it, but toward all. There is no escape. All have sinned. All have fallen short of the glory of God.

When God comes with His word of law everything is uncovered and annihilated. God comes to do battle against sinful flesh, the fallen world, and the devil with all his angels. But He doesn't come armed with sword and shield, or an angelic army ablaze with the glory of God. No, God comes empty-handed to engage in the great cosmic battle against the destructive powers of sin, death, devil, and law.

In the bitter conflict God becomes curse and blessing at the same time. On His cross at Calvary where the battle occurred, the law, the most salutary doctrine of life, contended against the Gospel, to damn it and annihilate it. But it cannot. For the blessing is God and He is eternal, therefore the curse must give way to Him. If the Gospel could be conquered by sin, death, devil, and the law then God himself would be conquered. But this is impossible.

God emptied and plundered the whole earth, the devil's kingdom, the strong man's house. By His death he took it all upon himself. By His resurrection He conquered them one time for all time, being raised as Lord of a new heaven and a new earth without law, wrath, death, or the devil.

This is God's delicious word and the strangest thing imaginable. He wants to pour out his love on his enemies and free them by killing them, plundering their houses, then creating them new. This is God's strange, wondrous love by which we have gained access to Him by the blood of this man, Jesus Christ. What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul! What wondrous love is this, O my soul! What wondrous love is this That caused the Lord of bliss To bear the dreadful curse, for my soul To bear the dreadful curse for my soul! (What Wondrous Love Is This LSB 543:1)

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The Second Sunday of Advent December 8, 2013 Today's Reading: Luke 21:25-36 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 24:14-25:12; 1 John 2:15-29 Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Luke 21:29-33)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The kingdom of God is not waiting around for us to get our act together and behave ourselves. Our decision one way or another will not become a bridge between God's new kingdom and this old earth. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God's words will never die away.

We do not dictate to God when His kingdom will appear. We do not reach out to take hold of Him. He comes close to speak to us and take hold of us, to give Himself to us freely, with everything already accomplished. This is the center of God's kingdom. When Jesus comes He brings an eternal word which is not the one we are used to. He comes announcing that our days and years are no longer measured by the law. The law had its limit, and comes to its end in Him.

Christ even now is destroying the world that He preserved for so long with His own holy law in order to create a new kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of death, devil, and our sinful selves is finished, no matter how much we fight against it. God is at work in His word to destroy the heavens and the earth so He can create a new kingdom through the preaching of the Gospel, because He wants you all to himself. He wants you to be a do-nothing, know-nothing, receive-everything kind of person. In this kingdom it's not what you do or don't do that earns you entry, it's who you know, or rather, who knows you, and His words of promise for you. Yes, all things will pass away, especially sinners, but you who've been chosen for eternal life have become a new creation of the Holy Spirit. In this new kingdom Christ rules, not by commands, but by the faithfulness of His promises to you, which are new every morning and will by no means pass away. Man does not live by bread alone, But by every word That proceeds from the mouth of God, Alleluia, alleluia! (Seek Ye First LSB 712:3)

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The Epiphany of Our Lord January 6, 2014 Today's Reading: Matthew 2:1-12 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 66:1-20; Luke 3:21-38 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, Are not the least among the rulers of Judah; For out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'" (Matthew 2:5-6)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The star did not lead the Wise Men straight to baby Jesus. It led them first to Jerusalem where they heard from the Scriptures that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem. This is how the Lord works. Even when He sends a sign like a star, we are still directed to His Word. The Word tells us where God is. In the womb of Mary. In a manger in Bethlehem. In a house in Bethlehem. In the waters of the font. In the preaching of the pastor. In the Scriptures. In the bread and wine of His Supper. The pagan religions have always tried to find God or “the divine” in nature. In the stars or in the trees. In the living things of this world. Or in the rocks and hills. Just about everywhere except where God Himself promises to be. The Word sorts this all out for us so that we don't have to wonder or doubt. There He is. God. A Baby in a manger. A man bleeding and dying on the cross. In the Upper Room after He has risen. God is where Jesus is. And Jesus is where His Word promises—font, pulpit, and altar. There He promises to be present to bless you and forgive you. Always. Now, sure, God is everywhere. The Scriptures say that. But Epiphany reminds us that what matters is not just that God is everywhere but that He is SOMEwhere. And that SOMEwhere of His Word and gifts is for Jews and Gentiles. He comes to the whole world in the same places so there can be no doubts. Only forgiveness and life, right where He promises to give them to you. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. O God, who by the leading of a star made manifest Your only-begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we, who know You now by faith, may after this life joyfully behold Your glorious Godhead; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for Epiphany)

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The Second Sunday after Christmas January 5, 2014

Today's Reading: Matthew 2:13-22 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 65:8-25; Luke 3:1-20

When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son." (Matthew 2:14-15)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! In many ways, the life of Jesus is a repeat of the life of Israel in the Old Testament. Jacob and his family had moved to Egypt during a famine to be taken care of by his son, Joseph, who controlled all Egypt's grain. Four hundred years later, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land. So Jesus went down to Egypt and later came back to the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. Israel passed through the Red Sea and then across the Jordan. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan. Just as Israel wandered in the desert 40 years, Jesus would be in the wilderness for 40 days. But it seems like at every point, Israel failed. The people turned away to false gods. They didn't trust the Lord to provide for them or defeat their enemies even though He did, over and over. When the Lord gave them every reason to trust in Him, they turned away in unbelief. Jesus, on the other hand, always trusted His Father. He never doubted or wavered. And this all happened to show us that where we are sinners, He is the Savior. Where we waver, He holds firm. Where we doubt, He trusts. Where we sin, He obeys perfectly. And He does this in order to live our life that we should have lived and then die our death that we deserved. Wicked King Herod doesn't kill Jesus. But our sins will. On Calvary. On the cross. Now as Jesus' life was like Israel's, so your life is like Jesus'. As He was baptized, so you are baptized—into His death and resurrection. And as He has ascended, so we ascend in faith. And as He will come again, so we will rise again from death and live forever with Him in the Promised Land of paradise. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

O Lord God, heavenly Father, who allowed Your dear Son, Jesus Christ, to become a stranger and sojourner in Egypt for our sake and led Him safely home to His fatherland, mercifully grant that we poor sinners who are strangers and sojourners in this perilous world, may finally come to our true home and fatherland, to live in joy and glory; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Second Sunday after Christmas)

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Monday of the Second Week of Advent December 9, 2013 Today's Reading: Malachi 4:1-6 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:1-19; 1 John 3:1-24 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. (Malachi 4:2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Sun of Righteousness has risen over this sin-darkened world. The true Light enlightens the whole world (John 1:9) by the preaching of sins forgiven in His name. He comes to pluck up and pull down, to destroy all our wisdom and righteousness. Everything we consider good, right, and beautiful, the highest goals of our lives, our sense of right and wrong, even our greatest loves are exposed by the burning light of His harsh judgment.

We are revolted by this thought. That God's righteousness destroys the goals of our lives, we are told, is due to our dreams and aspirations standing in eternal and deadly opposition to Him, even going so far as crucifying Him, because we prefer the darkness to the Light (John 3:19).

The Sun of Righteousness comes to live among us, to call, gather, and enlighten us by His Spirit. He shines the light of truth on all of our knowledge and accomplishments, revealing to us that they are immoral, stupid, and ugly, and in their place is Christ, risen from the dead, who stands as our glory. Before the risen Christ good, moral people are put to death then raised to live by faith alone—faith that trusts not what we have gotten for ourselves, but what Christ promises to give us.

Christ comes to make His righteousness a gift, a promise, by which He ends our doing and begins our trusting. Wherever He finds us, even unto the ends of the earth, He pronounces, “I forgive you apart from works.” Then, when those who still try to earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brow (Genesis 3:19) question and attack us, we remain unashamed and patient “do-nothings,” and, “know-nothings,” because we, “receive-everything,” just like stall-fed calves.

Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide, For round us falls the even-tide. O let Your Word, that saving light, Shine forth undimmed into the night. (Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide LSB 585:1)

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Tuesday of the Second Week of Advent December 10, 2013 Today's Reading: Romans 15:4-13 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 26:20-27:13; 1 John 4:1-21 “There shall be a root of Jesse; And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, In Him the Gentiles shall hope.” (Romans 15:12)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Church is the one place on earth where Jew and Gentile belong together. But not because they are united in their dedication to obey God's commands. It is because they have the same crucified Christ.

The Church is the body of Christ, the new kingdom, where God's work is revealed to be for all men. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All are deceived by sin. All have a distorted relation to the Father. All have false gods and false goals. Therefore, all need to be reconciled to God. All need the forgiveness, life, and salvation that are found in Christ alone.

The Church is not where like-minded people gather to try to perfect what the old, fallen world calls, “religion.” Gentile sinners are welcomed in, not based on how well they obey the law, their acceptance or their tolerance, or even their love, but because of the One, true preacher who takes away the sins of the world.

Christ is sent by the Father to serve the Jews first, “to confirm the promises made to the fathers” (Romans 15:7). Since Abraham, the Jews have had the promises (not the commands) that made them God's chosen people. In those promises they have received their “yes” in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). And though they arrive later to the wedding feast Gentiles are called in by the same crucified Groom, that they “might glorify God for His mercy “ (Romans 15:9).

To Jew and Gentile alike God makes Himself known in His faithful, lovingkindness despite their sin. To the Gentiles in particular God's mercy is revealed to us in the Scriptures. We were included in the promises made to the fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So we, too, like the Jews, “may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). Abraham's promised great reward, Zion's helper, Jacob's Lord—Him of two-fold race behold—Truly came, as long foretold. (Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord LSB 352:3)

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Saturday of the Week after Christmas January 4, 2014 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 64:15-65:7; Luke 2:41-52 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (Psalm 8:4 from the Introit for Christmas 2) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! Somewhere along the way, science and reason seem to have stripped us of the notion that human beings are the center of the universe. We're just animals evolved on a speck orbiting just one more star on the edge of one more galaxy. But think about this. When God came into His creation, what did He come as? A giraffe? A pelican? A sturgeon? An angel? No. He came as a man. No matter what else we learn from observing the world around us, we will never learn our place with God. That comes from His Word in which He reveals Himself as the God who became man. Just imagine! God, who made all that there is, every star and planet and cloud of nebular gas—that God became one of the creatures that live on little ol' planet earth. But He doesn't do this to prove some point about the superiority of human beings. In fact, of all creatures, we're the ones who heard God's Word and said, “No thanks!” So it's not just remarkable that God became man. It's remarkable that He came in the flesh of the very creatures who rejected and turned away from Him! And He did it to save us—to restore us to our right place in the universe. And that place is, with the Lord. In communion with Him. No more death and sin and turning away from God. Jesus dies on Calvary and rises from the dead to bring us up from the death of sin to the highest places with Him at the Father's right hand! Through your Baptism into Christ, you have been given this place with Christ. Through His body and blood, you will be raised up after death and live forever. When you go to the Divine Service tomorrow, there you will have the reminder that you are precious in God's sight. After all, Jesus became just like you (but without sin) to redeem you and put you back into your rightful place with Him. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. He sent no angel to our race, Of higher or of lower place, But wore the robe of human frame, And to this world Himself He came. (O Love, How Deep, LSB 544:2)

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Friday of the Week after Christmas January 3, 2014 Today's Reading: Isaiah 11:1-5 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 63:1-14; Luke 2:21-40 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. (Isaiah 11:1)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! The stem of Jesse. Jesse was King David's dad. Isaiah prophesied that the Savior was going to come from a particular family tree: David's. Jesus didn't just show up out of nowhere. When He became man, He took on His flesh in the womb of Mary, a descendant of Jesse's line. It's a reminder that goes all the way back to Eden when the Lord told Eve that “her seed” would crush the serpent's head. Here's the thing. God doesn't shy away from mixing it up with us sinners. He takes on our flesh. Lives among us. Puts up with us. Carries our transgressions all the way to Calvary. And dies there for our sins before rising the third day. He does that by coming at a particular time, in a particular place, from a particular family. With Jesus, there's nothing hypothetical or generic. He is a real human being from a real family who carries our real sins to a real cross and dies a real death. What sets the Christian faith apart from other religions is that God Himself has come into this world in our flesh and done things to save us. And He continues to do that as He uses water, words, bread and wine to deliver His gifts. Jesse's son, David, became the King of Israel. Down the line from David, Jesus was born and is King of Kings. Your salvation is a real thing because your God is a real God—not just because “God exists” but because that God became man, born of a woman, born for you to save you. Jesus being born in the line of Jesse and David reminds us that the Lord was always working out the fulfillment of His promises through real people in a real family. It's just as He does now, though, not in a geographical Israel but through the family of His church. He has made you a part of that family by your new birth from above in baptism. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. O Come, Thou Branch of Jesse's tree, Free them from Satan's tyranny That trust Thy mighty pow'r to save, And give them vict'ry o'er the grave. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, LSB 357:4)

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Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent December 11, 2013

Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 28:14-29; 1 John 5:1-21

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean? ...He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. (The Small Catechism: The Creed, First Article) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. But what about when God doesn't provide clothing or shoes or house or home or the things we need? Has He forgotten? Doesn't He know how much I need my parents to stay married? Doesn't He know that I can't lose my grandma to cancer? Doesn't He know I need to be smarter to pass this class? What then? Remember, Lord! Jesus is the Father's proof that He never forgets. Even if He were to withhold something from you, He is just teaching you that He doesn't forget. He's teaching you to trust in Christ. But hasn't He forgotten that you can just crank up some extra faith in yourself? No, He hasn't forgotten that either. That's why he gives you His Word. A pastor to preach it and a Bible to read it in. A baptism to remember. A Supper to eat and drink. And those are the gifts that give you Jesus. And the Bible says that if God gave up His Son, how can He not give you all things? The “stuff” of this world is easy for the Lord to provide. He will give you what you need to survive. But what He will give you most of all is His Son. The forgiveness of sins, yes, even the sin of doubting His goodness. The sin of thinking He could ever forget you. All of that is wiped out by the cross of Jesus. The cross demonstrates that there is nothing the Lord wouldn't give you that you need. If that means, because of your sins, you need God Himself hanging on a tree to die for them, well then the Father will arrange that for you. Your heavenly Father can't forget you. He made you. He sent His Son to save you and the Spirit to make you His own. You are His and He can never forget His own. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. What God ordains is always good: His loving thought attends me; No poison can be in the cup That my physician sends me. My God is true; Each morning new I trust His grace unending. My life to Him commending. (What God Ordains is Always Good, LSB 760:3)

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Thursday of the Second Week of Advent December 12, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 29:1-14; Jude 1-25 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” (Isaiah 29:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. What do we do with a God who can't be bought off with sacrifices? What do we do with a God who heaps sorrow upon sorrow through the Law with no respect for persons? For wise men these questions lead to their destruction and for the prudent, God wills to be hidden from them. The gods of fate and fortune cannot provide them with answers either. They can only sit mute while the men who worship them get used to falling into the pitfalls of fortune and settle into the unsettling business of accepting their fate. Their gods have nothing to say, no way to justify what they have done, no way to set men free who are enslaved to their desires and loves. These gods are dead gods made by dead hands, behind which the living God hides himself.

Yet once a preacher comes, God reveals himself. God's wrath is revealed, removing faith from the wrong places so God can make life without His preachers a sickness unto death. But God not only reveals Himself to make Himself detestable to the wise and the prudent, He reveals where He desires to be revealed, preached, and worshipped: in Christ alone. This is a marvelous work and a wonder—that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8), to reveal the truth about God by His death and resurrection.

When men ask why good people suffer and bad people prosper they are met with a stony wall of silence. God does not want to be known outside His Word, Christ who is God-revealed by his blood. God promises to be present in Christ's cross: “There I will meet with you” (Exodus 25:22). At the cross God reverses and ends all sacrifice that is offered up by sinners to God. Now Christ comes down from God to sinners, present to them by faith, but in a hidden way. Christ is heard, not seen, in His promises, in simple earthly words, water, bread, and wine. God is revealed as marvelous among His people in this particular word from Christ delivered by a preacher for you.

Restrain, O Lord, the human pride That seeks to thrust Your truth aside Or with some man-made thoughts or things Would dim the words Your Spirit sings. (Lord Jesus Christ with Us Abide LSB 585:5)

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Thursday of the Week after Christmas January 2, 2014 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 62:1-12; Luke 2:1-20 I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the virgin Mary, is my Lord, (The Creed, Second Article)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! You can't say it any simpler than that. True God. True man. Is Jesus God? Yes! Is Jesus a man? Yes! Well, which is it, God or man? Yes! God being a baby and growing into a man just doesn't square with our notions of what God is like or should do. People think of the “Supreme Being” as “outside of time” and “present everywhere” and all sorts of other really awesome things. What people mostly DON'T think of when they hear “God” is “baby.” After all, a baby in a manger doesn't look particularly God-like. A baby in a manger looks kind of weak and harmless. And that's a foreshadowing. When that Baby grew up and was nailed to the tree, He really, really didn't look like God! He really, really looked weak and helpless and sad and pathetic! And there is the mystery of the Christian faith, that on Calvary, God being most God (remember, Yahweh saving us) looks least like God. At least to our notions of God. Weak. Bleeding. Mocked. Sad. Thirsty. Dying. Dead. That's God? Indeed. Because God is all about one thing: saving you from your sins. That's why He becomes man. True God. True man. Both in one Person, Jesus Christ. To do what? Save sinners. Save you. Die and rise for you. Wash, teach, and feed you. That's what makes this Jesus, true God and true man, your Lord. This is why we confess the Apostles (and Nicene and Athanasian) Creed. It's our constant reminder of just who this Jesus is. We confess what He Himself has taught us. He is God and man. And that means He's our Lord and Savior from sin. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. Let the earth now praise the Lord, Who has truly kept His word And at last to us did send Christ, the sinner's help and friend. (Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord, LSB 352:1)

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Circumcision and Name of Jesus January 1, 2014 Today's Reading: Luke 2:21 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 61:1-11; Luke 1:57-80 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Today, eight days after He was born, Jesus got His name. “Jesus,” or, if you prefer the Hebrew, “Joshua.” “Yahweh Saves.” That's what it means. That's what the angel told Joseph the baby would be called, so when Jesus was named, that was the name given to Him. The essence of the Christian faith is in that one name. Yahweh is the One doing the saving. Not us. We don't save ourselves. He saves us. God Himself. This baby is God! God, a baby! Who could have imagined that? And what is God, Yahweh doing? He's saving. Not condemning. Not punishing. Not persuading or enticing or browbeating. He's saving. Saving means someone needs to be saved. That's you. You need saving. So “Yahweh saves,” that is, “Yah-shua”, that is, “Joshua” saves you. He saves you by being like you. A human being. A human being under the Law. A human being who suffers and dies. A human being who comes back to life. Yahweh. True God. A baby. True man. The Name of Jesus gets tossed around like a cuss word all the time. That's bad. But it's even worse when the name “Jesus” is attached to the preaching and teaching which turns salvation and good works and holy living back on us and makes it something we do—as if Jesus is just a leader, motivational guru, or ethics teacher. No, His Name says it all. And the day He was named, that saving work began as He submitted to the Law and shed His blood in the act of being circumcised. Already as a baby, He's doing His saving work. And that will carry on all the way to the cross, for you. And it will be carried beyond to you in the waters of Baptism, the absolving Word, and the Supper of His body and blood. It's all there. In the Name. Jesus. Yahweh, God Himself, saves. Saves you. In the NAME of Jesus. Amen. Dear name! The rock on which I build, My shield and hiding place; My never failing treasury filled With boundless stores of grace. (How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds, LSB 524:3)

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Friday of the Second Week of Advent December 13, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 29:15-30:14; Revelation 1:1-20 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 29:18-19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God elects the deaf to hear His promises, and it works. It seems illogical and self-defeating to the ungodly. But this is how God operates. “Hear, you deaf!” (Isaiah 42:18) And, “Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but do not see, who have ears, but do not hear” (Jeremiah 42:18). God sends prophets and preachers to do the impossible, to say, “Hear, you deaf,” then stand back as God proves that what is impossible for men is quite possible for Him.

As the flood overwhelmed the whole world during the days of Noah, the dreadful judgment of God sweeps across the earth. His last judgment erupts over the face of the earth, declaring that not only are all His hearers deaf, but they are deaf because they are dead. That is why Christian preaching is foolish. God sends His preachers to speak to deaf people who have no way of hearing their words, because you can't be deafer than dead. Yet, where we lay deaf, blind, dead, no free will to speak of, with no proper relation to God, He sends his preacher to speak a simple word: “Your sins are forgiven.” In that moment God's words do what no human words can accomplish. The deaf are made to hear and the dead are raised. The one who went into the darkness of death and hell, cursed and forsaken by His Father, who was raised on the third day, who was given all authority in heaven and on earth, has a lively word for you.

This is the joy of the LORD in which we rejoice. Christ came for us when we were deaf, blind, and dead in sin, spoke His words into us, poured His water over us to give life to our dead bodies, to call into existence the things which do not exist (Romans 4:17). And through the Holy One of Israel, God pours out His love on sinners and frees them by raising their dead bodies to new life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Speak, O Lord, Your servant listens, Let Your Word to me come near; Newborn life and spirit give me, Let each promise still my fear. Death's dread pow'r its inward strife, Wars against Your Word of life; Fill me, Lord with love's strong fervor That I cling to You forever! (Speak, O Lord, Your Servant Listens LSB 589:1)

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Saturday of the Second Week of Advent December 14, 2013 Today's Reading: Introit for Advent 3 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 30:15-26; Revelation 2:1-29 Therefore the LORD will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the LORD is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him. (Isaiah 30:18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. It is difficult to bear but the truth is that God in His mercy is against us. We are unrepentant legalists. We love the law even though it is the power of sin (1 Corinthians 15:56). We regard everything like lawyers preparing to go to court. We even judge God according to the legal standard. In this way we imagine that what the Bible means by “mercy” is little more than God delaying legal punishment.

Into this courtroom drama comes Jesus. He has waited. He has been patient. Now it is mercy time. But God's mercy isn't legalistic. It is pure Gospel. God shows up giving away healing and forgiveness to all the wrong sorts of people. Jesus' mercy, judged according to the law, is an assault against morality, religion, God's good creation, and free will. Christ gives forgiveness to the outright ungodly while they are yet ungodly. The legal scheme we have refined and perfected for generations is destroyed with simple words: “Your sins are forgiven.”

God's mercy removes trust put in a false place and then puts faith in the proper place, which creates something new out of nothing. God's mercy takes away all our confidence in the law and then places it in the particular promise of Christ. This is God's justice, which overthrows all human definitions of justice. God's mercy is that Jesus was, “set forth as a Mercy Seat by faith in His blood. This was to declare His righteousness through the passing over of former sins in the forbearance of God, to declare in the present time the righteousness that stands before Him, that He alone might be righteous by making Him righteous who believes in Jesus, a mercy seat for the forgiveness of sins by his blood” (Romans 3:24-25). He blesses us without cost by His grace, because His compassion never fails, and His mercies are new each morning (Lamentations 3:22-23). Salvation unto us has come By God's free grace and favor; Good works cannot avert our doom, They help and save us never. Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, Who did for all the world atone; He is our one Redeemer. (Salvation unto Us Has Come LSB 555:1)

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Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus December 31, 2013 Today's Reading: Luke 12:35-40 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 60:1-22; Luke 1:39-56 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." (Luke 12:40)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year (almost)! There's no surprise to a New Year. We know when it's coming. We can keep track on the calendar. We can watch the ball drop in Times Square or see the clock hit midnight in our time zone. Year after year; always the same. Not even a leap day in February can throw us off. But Jesus will show up when we don't expect it. There is no calculating the day of His return. There's no dropping ball of light to tell us He'll be here in a countdown from ten. When He shows up, in all His glory, it will be exactly the right time. The problem we have isn't so much with HIS return as it is with OUR being ready. Too easily we read those words as if somehow they mean we are supposed to be living the right way or else we'll be in trouble when He shows up. But to “be ready” isn't about us doing something so that we are acceptable when Jesus comes. It's about being acceptable already in Him. And that's His job to make us ready. You were made ready when Jesus died for your sins on the cross. That way, when He comes again, there will be nothing to condemn you for. You were made ready when He rose from the dead. That way, when He comes again, you will rise from the dead. You were made ready when you were baptized, absolved and fed with His body and blood, because in those gifts, your sins were forgiven and you were prepared. Now, the Lord Jesus could come again tonight—or anytime this year. We don't know. But you ARE ready. He Himself has made you ready. So sound the noisemakers and ring in a new year, confident that whenever Jesus returns, you're all set, thanks to Him. In the name of Jesus. Amen. O Jesus Christ, do not delay, But hasten our salvation; We often tremble on our way In fear and tribulation O hear and grant our fervent plea: Come, mighty judge, and set us free From death and ev'ry evil. (The Day Is Surely Drawing Near, LSB 508:7)

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Monday of the Week after Christmas December 30, 2013 Today's Reading: Galatians 4:1-7 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 58:1-59:3,14-21; Luke 1:26-38 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! If you pay attention to much of what passes for “Christianity” you could draw the conclusion that Christ did not come to redeem us FROM the Law. Rather, you'd have to say He came to give us MORE Law. To give us a better morality. To make us behave better. To make us nicer, kinder, gentler, less judgmental, more upright and ethical human beings. But that's not why Jesus came at all. He came to redeem those who were under the Law. “Under the Law” is bad. It means you are under the Law's condemnation and judgment. The Law says “Do this” and we have not done it. The Law says, “Do not do” and we have done it. The Law says wrath and punishment for those who want to do their own thing instead of what the Law says. And the harder we try to keep the Law, the more we see just how futile it is. The more we try to behave, the worse we see ourselves to be. The Law has nothing to say but to condemn us. So Jesus comes to redeem us. Buy us back. Where the Law says to “do this,” Jesus does it. Always. Where the Law says “don't do,” he doesn't. Always. Where the Law says we are condemned, He takes that condemnation on Himself. Where the Law promises death for sin, He dies the death our sin brings Him. On Calvary, the Law is fully and completely on Jesus and no longer on you. This promise is delivered in Baptism, absolution and the Supper which all make this promise: that you have been redeemed from being under the Law and its condemnation. Jesus was not born to press the Law down harder upon you but to pull you out from underneath its crushing weight and set you free. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. From the bondage that oppressed us, From sin's fetters that possessed us, From the grief that sore distressed us, We, the captives, now are free. (Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising, LSB 375:4)

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The Third Sunday of Advent December 15, 2013 Today's Reading: Matthew 11:2-11 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 30:27-31:9; Revelation 3:1-22 And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. John awaits execution. John doubts. “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Why ask Jesus this? The same reason we doubt. Jesus was not the kind of Messiah John expected. This Savior allows His prophets to be murdered and the apostles to be rejected. He permits His Christians to suffer trouble in the world. He lets John the Baptizer lose his head. And Jesus? This Coming One said to look at His works. Then He sailed away in a ship. He withdrew into the solitude of the wilderness. The prophet Isaiah was correct when he said about God: “Truly, You are a God that hides Yourself.” Now, by faith, God wants to be hidden. At the Last Day when we see Him face to face He will fully reveal himself. Then He will show us that He saw the misery of His people. He heard our cries. He was willing to help us. He was always with us in death and new life. This offends us. We look at what’s become of our hopes. We look into the open grave and doubt. We ask, “Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?” Why ask Jesus this?

For centuries the Church has raised their voices to Him who will come to judge the living and the dead. For centuries the Church has prayed “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” And during this time we’ve heard the answer: “Yes, I am coming soon.” For centuries the wise, strong, and socially adept people have challenged the Church: “Where is the promise of His coming?” But her answer is always the same: “...since the fathers died, everything remains as it always has been since the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4).

It’s always easier to trust in what we can grab hold of. It’s more difficult to rely on Him in whom and through whom we receive everything. Yet, it is by faith in Christ and through Him that the Church receives everything, even a special understanding of time. So she can wait, anxious for nothing. Kept by the Spirit in sure and certain hope the Church sings, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”, because she knows that He is coming soon. Come, then, O Lord Jesus, From our sins release us. Keep our hearts believing, That we, grace receiving, Ever may confess You Till in heav'n we bless you. (Once He Came in Blessing LSB 333:4)

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Monday of the Third Week of Advent December 16, 2013 Today's Reading: Isaiah 40:1-11 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 32:1-20; Revelation 4:1-11 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom, And gently lead those who are with young. (Isaiah 40:10-11)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Good Shepherd comes to speak to you. He has not come to persuade you that He is worth following. He does not come to convince you to elect Him your shepherd. He comes to reveal to you that God always preserves you even though you never notice it or offer thanks and praise to Him.

Only the faithfulness of Christ to His promise secures you as a lamb of His flock. He does this by removing faith from where it does not belong, and placing it upon Him as the proper and only place of true, saving faith. Now when the sheep hear the voice of Jesus, it is revealed that He carries them and leads them by His strong hand: forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. If it is not God's strong hand, if His reward is not already with Him, if there is still something we must do to be welcomed into the sheep-fold, then we run endlessly back and forth between pride and despair. Pride, because we don't doubt that we deserve to be a part of the flock. Despair, because all we do is doubt whether or not we belong there. But faith is never comingled with pride or despair. Faith clings to Christ. It is created and sustained by the Spirit of the One who promises He will never leave us or abandon us to the law and death.

The world is shocked by—that God's promise is so certain. The world lives on a tightrope which is stretched between pride and despair. The Church lives upon the words and work of God, and her reward is already with Him, who gently gathers and freely carries us into His kingdom of grace forever. As true as God's own Word is true, Not earth nor hell's satanic crew Against us shall prevail. Their might? A joke, a mere facade! God is with us and we with God – Our victory cannot fail. (O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe LSB 666:3)

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The Sunday after Christmas December 29, 2013 Today's Reading: Luke 2:22-40 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 55:1-13; Luke 1:1-25 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (Luke 2:34) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Merry Christmas! Just as fast as the stores tear down their Christmas displays, the Gospel goes from Christmas to Good Friday. This Child. So sweet and mild and all that. But He's going to cause problems. They'll hate Him. They'll kill Him. He's going to ruin man-made religion that trusts in how good we are. They aren't going to like Him for that. As peaceful and gentle as we like to make Christmas out to be (or at least as it's portrayed in everything marketing related) the fact is, this Child was born to die. He came into this world not so we can “kootchy coo” the little Guy. He came to haul our sins onto His back and drag them to Calvary and pay for them once and for all by His death. Simeon had a promise from the Lord that he would not die until he had seen the Savior. He got to hold that Savior in his arms. Then Simeon sang, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace.” It's the same song we sing after we get to hold Jesus—not as a baby but His body and blood given us to eat and drink are how we receive Him now. Sometimes Christians seem to be sad that Christmas is over so soon, at least in the world (The church celebrates Twelve Days of Christmas...beginning on Christmas!). That's because we are not immune to the trappings of the holiday which either make it one we enjoy immensely or dread intensely. Our Lord would have us know that He has come for us as a baby who grew up to give His body and shed His blood on the cross for us, to take away all our sins. And that death, and that forgiveness given in His Supper bring the true peace the Christmas angels sang about. That's the peace of God not holding any of our sins against us, so that we too, can, depart this life in the glad confidence that we have eternal life with Christ. In the Name of Jesus. Amen. O heavenly Father, as You gladden our hearts again to celebrate the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, mercifully bestow on us the joy to receive Him as our Redeemer and so welcome Him when He comes again to be our judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. (Collect for the Sunday after Christmas)

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The Holy Innocents, Martyrs December 28, 2013 Today's Reading: Matthew 2:13-18 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 52:13-54:10; Matthew 2:13-23 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:16-18)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In Noel Coward’s play This Happy Breed, a man’s son is killed in the war and his friends try to help him with talk and euphemisms for death. Out of the emptiness of his heart he finally cries, “He didn’t pass on, pass out, or pass over; he just bloody well died.” Like Rachel's children, he is no more. What is the point of going on living when the ones most precious in all the world have died? But you cannot find the point by looking into a grave. This we have to face. Yet death is a fact that, for all its finality, is not the final fact. “God gives into empty hands,” says St. Augustine, not into hands full of what we would boast of before God, not even our mourning. Sometimes, with drastic mercy, our Father empties our sinful hands so there may be room for His gifts.

Blessed are those who are given to by God. Blessed are they who receive death as a gift from His hands. Nothing is outside Christ's nail-pierced hands. Despite the pain and perplexity of any way of dying we are never outside Christ's hands, and within His hands and from His hands our deaths are a gift by way of which He brings us to the fullness of His promises: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). “Rejoice and be glad,” therefore, because, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” “The throne of God and the Lamb.” “The Lamb’s Book of Life.” Amen.

Abide with me, fast falls the even-tide. The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me. (Abide with Me LSB 878:1)

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Tuesday of the Third Week of Advent December 17, 2013 Today's Reading: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 33:1-24; Revelation 5:1-14 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. (1 Corinthians 4:4)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Before a human court St. Paul does not accuse or excuse himself, but looks instead to God's judgment of the world at Calvary. God justified St. Paul in spite of himself. God justifies all sinners in spite of themselves. How could it be otherwise? How could St. Paul or any of us earn forgiveness when we are dead in sin? How can the dead take care of the dead? This is why we need Christ. By Christ's word of forgiveness St. Paul and all sinners are set free from death, the devil, ourselves, the world. We are even set free from God's most holy law.

For, as St. Paul says, “He who by faith is righteous will live” (Romans 1:17). That is, the one who trusts upon the forgiveness of sins from God will live. No works, nothing added or subtracted by us, just trust in the promise all by itself. Faith alone justifies the ungodly. So we, like St. Paul, know of nothing against ourselves, because whatever may be held against us in a court of divine law has been taken away from us and put on Christ. However, our sins were not just placed on Him. He became sin and curse for us. God made “Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Christ didn't just suffer the wrath of God for our sins, but as Martin Luther writes, Christ commits “the sins that all men have committed. The sin of Paul, the former blasphemer, of Peter who denied Christ, of David an adulterer and murderer.” In fact, Christ becomes the greatest of all sinners.

If Christ doesn't bear our sins then we must bear them and be killed by them. But Christ ends up with all our sins in His own body. They are Christ's own. Now, instead of the law of sin and death ruling us, the law is rendered powerless, sin is defeated, and death has lost its sting. Now Christ alone is Lord. This is God's just judgment. That, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). As by one man all mankind fell And born in sin, was doomed to hell, So by one Man, who took our place, We all were justified by grace. (All Mankind Fell in Adam’s Fall LSB 562:5)

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Wednesday of the Third Week of Advent December 18, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 34:1-2, 8-35:10; Revelation 6:1-17 I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean? ...He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true. (The Small Catechism: The Creed, First Article) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. A dog looks to its master, eagerly expecting its food. A child looks to his mother to comfort him from imagined monsters. As Christ's people, we look to our heavenly Father, expecting Him to take care of whatever might hurt us. Evil things frighten us because we take our eyes off the Lord and we forget He will save us. When the Father sends Jesus to save us from our sins, the image of Jesus on the cross is forever given to us as one of comfort. Whenever you see a cross or crucifix, whenever you make the sign of the cross, whenever you see a picture or painting of Jesus on Calvary, and whenever that crucified Jesus is preached to you, then remember: Your heavenly Father delivers you from all evil. What the creed is teaching us here is that there is nothing that can truly harm you. Yes, you can get sick. You might suffer pain or some other hurt. You will even die. But none of those things is an evil that can harm or destroy you. That's because all that is ever truly evil has landed on Jesus on Calvary and His empty tomb of Easter is the proof that there is nothing that can keep the Son of God down. Therefore, there is nothing that can keep you down, now that you have been baptized into Christ. Your heavenly Father truly does protect and deliver you from all that is evil. There is nothing that can snatch you from His hand because you are there in Jesus. There is no evil that has not been defeated, no matter how awful, by the death and resurrection of Jesus and therefore by your baptism and His Word and body and blood. This really does call forth our thanks and praise! In the Name of Jesus. Amen. “Yes, Father, yes, most willingly I'll bear what You command Me. My will conforms to Your decree, I'll do what You have asked Me.” O wondrous Love, what have You done! The Father offers up His Son, Desiring our salvation. O Love, how strong You are to save! You lay the One into the grave Who built the earth's foundation. (A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth, LSB 438:3)

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St. John, Apostle and Evangelist December 27, 2013 Today's Reading: John 21:20-25 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 51:17-52:12; Matthew 2:1-12 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” (John 21:21-22)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Peter, “You follow me.” The same is true for John: “You follow me.” The same can be said for each Christian: “You follow me.” We are not strays left to wander this world until death takes us. We are together with Christ, alive, in motion, sent to live and share the life of Christ.

Remember, then, your Baptism. Live your Baptism. You were born again; new life was given to you. You are being born anew each day. Each day pregnant with the next, even the days that deny you and God, for we, too, like Peter and John and all the apostles go to the Father. Enlivened by God’s Spirit, we follow Christ who promised, “You follow me.” Therefore, “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no man can take your joy from you” (John 16:22).

That is Peter's life, and John's life, and every Christian's life. Your life bound up, joined with His because, “You follow me.” That is what Jesus is about. Jesus is what life is about. “He is the source of our righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Our wisdom is Christ. Our Righteousness is Christ. Our Sanctification is Christ. Our redemption is Christ. Our life is Christ because, “You follow me.”

But Lord, what about this man? Not this man, but me. You follow me. Look to the crucified and risen Christ. Jesus’ death is the final, ultimate connection of us and God. For in Him we and God go together. Jesus points His disciples forward to that death as a birth to new life when He says, “You follow me.” For where there is no Good Friday, there is no Easter. Where there is no Easter, there is no Pentecost. Where there is no Pentecost then on and on past your little death that you have already left behind at Calvary because, “You follow me,” into the resurrection. Jesus lead Thou on, Till our rest is won. Heav'ny leader, still direct us, Still support, console, protect us, Till we safely stand In our father land. (Jesus, Lead Thou On LSB 718:4)

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St. Stephen, Martyr December 26, 2013

Today's Reading: Acts 6:8-7:1-60 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 49:22-26; 50:4-51:8,12-16; Matthew 1:18-25 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” (Acts 7:57-59)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Stephen urges his people to turn from their foolishness and be saved. He exhorts them to listen to God’s promises, to hear with their own ears about the promised Messiah. But the people and religious leaders would not hear what Stephen was preaching. They had become foolish in their understanding. This is because true wisdom and understanding is to believe in Jesus as Savior. All God's treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him (Colossians 2:3), not in all sorts of worldly categories: Jew and Gentile, white and non-white, male and female, smart and stupid, good and bad, spiritual and non-spiritual. God is no respecter of persons. His wisdom and Spirit are not hidden in some sectarian society either. No one has a monopoly on God’s gifts. He doesn’t preserve them in a club of insiders who, because of their theology, race, color, or sex—or their good behavior, intelligence, or income bracket—are the only ones through whom God will hand out His gifts to us. You can’t earn God’s gifts by your obedience to His holy law. You can’t buy them with silver or gold. You can’t bargain for them with your own worthiness or merit.

When God speaks, His wisdom pours out of the mouth of His chosen preachers. When He speaks the waters of Baptism pour over you. When He speaks His body and blood pour down your throats. God speaks to give you His wisdom and Spirit through gifts. When God speaks He doesn’t leave you to imagine His intent. He does something as definite as when the Spirit took hold of Stephen and moved him to preach Christ even though it resulted in Stephen's martyrdom. Therefore, blessed are those, like Stephen, who are given to by God. Blessed are those who receive gifts, even affliction and death, as a gift from His hands. No one He has chosen to call His own will be allowed to slip out of His nail-pierced hands. The Word they still shall let remain Nor any thanks have for it; He's by our side upon the plain With His good gifts and Spirit. And take they our life, Goods, fame, child, and wife, Though these all be gone, Our vict'ry has been won; The Kingdom ours remaineth. (A Mighty Fortress is Our God LSB 656:4)

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Thursday of the Third Week of Advent December 19, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 40:1-17; Revelation 7:1-17 The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:6-8)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. All flesh is grass and like grass it withers. The loveliness of our flesh is like the flower of the field. It fades and dies. At this point we protest, “But isn't there anything we can do about this!” There is nothing you can do. The breath of the LORD is causing this. Then the cry erupts, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me!” This is what the flesh, the world, and the devil suggest whenever God does not immediately appear friendly toward them.

Our sin is so deep in the flesh that even if we are aware God is destroying all flesh it doesn't go away by wishing it were so. But that's how the flesh thinks. We think that if enough physical or mental effort is expended life can be good again. Sin infects all life in this way. Something must be done about our flesh, but what can we do? God wants to strip away our most precious possession.

Christ comes to accomplish what is impossible for us. He goes deeper into our flesh than sin itself. He takes those sins in order to fulfill the law's demands, to overthrow sin and death. Christ ends the tyranny of the flesh in His accursed death under the law and of God Himself. He redeems and reconciles sinners with God. God's Word became flesh and died once for all on the cross, never to be repeated. With this cross the promise of forgiveness is preached repeatedly, not hearing your sin because Christ has taken it, but hearing only Christ in faith who takes your sin so it cannot accuse you. Jesus, God-in-flesh, has made all things new, free, and living from God's own favor forever. O Christ, who shared out mortal life And ended death's long reign, Who healed the sick and raised the dead And bore our grief and pain: We know our years on earth are few, That death is always near. Come now to us, O Lord of Life, Bring hope that conquers fear. (O Christ, Who Shared Our Mortal Life LSB 552:1)

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Friday of the Third Week of Advent December 20, 2013 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 40:18-41:10; Revelation 8:1-13 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. (Isaiah 40:21-23)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. When you hold a grasshopper in your hand how is the grasshopper going to understand your relation to him? How is he going to know what you think about him or what you are like? Only if you were to become like the grasshopper and show him, speak to him in terms a grasshopper will understand will he know what you are like. So then, to the question what God is like: The first and immediate answer is Jesus of Nazareth. Here was a man who claimed to be God, said things only God can say, did things only God can do, and accepted worship that belongs only to God. Some called Jesus a blasphemer. The only other possibility was that here actually was God. God was confronting people as a man. Here God expressed Himself in human terms, which is what Scripture says about Jesus. He is called the Word, the active statement, the expression, the revelation of God. He who was the Word made flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:14). God was seen, heard, and touched. To know Jesus is to know God.

Here is the answer to the question, “What is God like?” We beheld His glory as the only-begotten Son of the Father full of grace and truth, and the height of that glory was the cross. God became man, went to the cross, and suffered the agony of hell as sin’s punishment. Jesus died for the ungodly, for those afraid of God, fleeing from God. He died for sinners. He died for you. There is no greater love imaginable. That is what God is like: abundant grace. When sin, which puts you wrong with God is answered for and forgiven, your guilt and dreadful fear before God is gone. You come to know Him as Father because of what Jesus does for you.

God would not have the sinner die; His Son with saving grace is nigh; His Spirit in the Word declares How we in Christ are heaven's heirs (God Loved the World So that He Gave LSB 571:3)

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The Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas Day December 25, 2013 Today's Reading: John 1:1-14 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 49:1-18; Matthew 1:1-17 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. In God’s time, the time when God’s Word became flesh, when it was time to bring in the kingdom, Adam's times, Moses' times, David’s times, and all our times were reconciled and restored by this new-born child, Jesus. He is God’s flesh and blood promise to save sinners.

God's promise becomes flesh. He comes to die and rise from the dead so He can feed us on that same flesh and blood. He will come again to raise our bodies, flesh and blood, from their graves. His coming to us began when we were baptized. As St. Paul writes, ”We were buried therefore with [Christ] by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). With Christ we died at that time. With Him we were buried. With Him we were raised in the certain hope that our perishable bodies will be raised from the dead imperishable. He cannot abandon our bodies, because according to God's promise we are members of His body.

This is the deep secret of the Church. We, “though many, are one body ... For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). And again: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17). This is the Church. The assembly of believers. The fellowship which the world does not know. They can never understand why we wait on Him. They can’t believe we are the imperishable communion of saints. We are His body. By faith in Him we are the Church. We don’t need to go looking anywhere else for a Savior. He’s right here. Speaking to us. Feeding His flesh to us. Pouring His blood into us. God has not forgotten us. He can never forget His saints, because all God's promises in Jesus Christ our Lord are for us. Word eternal, throned on high, Word that brought to life creation, Word that came from heav'n to die, Crucified for our salvation, Saving Word the world restoring, Speak to us, Your love outpouring. (Word of God, Come Down on Earth LSB 545:2)

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The Nativity of Our Lord, Christmas Eve December 24, 2013 Today's Reading: Luke 2:1-20 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 44:21-45:13, 20-25; Revelation 12:1-17 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:6-7)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The birth of Jesus is pitiful. There’s nobody to pity His young mother who is giving birth for the first time. She doesn’t have the first thing a mother needs in a birth-night. Mary is without any preparation, without light or fire. She’s alone in the darkness without anyone offering their help. Everything is in commotion in the inn. There are guests swarming in from all parts of the country. No one thinks about this poor woman. As much as this birth is despised on earth, this baby is praised by all the angels in heaven. If an angel from heaven came and praised you, declared to the world how remarkable you are, wouldn’t you consider it of greater value than all the praise anyone else could give you? Would you then be willing to bear the greatest sufferings and rejection because of it? Jesus is born into that and all the angels in heaven cannot restrain themselves from breaking out in rejoicing. Even poor shepherds in the fields hear them preach, praise God, sing, and pour out their joy in heaven and earth. There, then, all the joy and praise of heaven were poured out at Bethlehem. All other joy and praise we can imagine for ourselves or God are worthless. But when compared with the joy and praise declared by the angels at Jesus’ birth how can we argue otherwise?

This is the long-promised Savior. This baby, despised and rejected by men is born to conquer sin, death, world, hell, devil, and all evil for you. God therefore looks kindly upon the least, last, lost, littlest, and dead. His eyes look into the depths of suffering and affliction, as it’s written, "He sits above the cherubim" and looks into the depths (Psalm 99:1). He looks into the depths and sends the good news about His Son there, to simple men like these shepherds, the most humble people upon earth. God chose poor shepherds, who, although they were of low status in the sight of men, were in heaven regarded as worthy of God’s great grace and favor. Come here, my friends, lift up your eyes, And see what in the manger lies. Who is this child, so young and fair? It is the Christ Child lying there. (From Heaven Above to Earth I Come LSB 358:7)

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St. Thomas, Apostle December 21, 2013 Today's Reading: John 20:24-29 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 42:1-25; Revelation 9:1-12 So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” (John 20:25b-26)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The Gospel, not the sham Gospel of the lawyers and Pharisees, but the true Gospel which is Christ Himself, concludes the opposite of the law. The word "sin" really belongs to "Christ" in such a way that Christ became sin FOR YOU. There is no other way. Your redemption requires the exchange of Christ's innocence for your sin. God does not require it, the law doesn't either, nor Satan. But you, the sinner, require it. In fact, as Christ Himself learned, you will do whatever is necessary to make Christ into a sinner, including crucifying Him for preaching the forgiveness of sin.

When Thomas saw the resurrected Lord he saw Him bearing his sins in the form of marks in His hands, feet and side which had become touchable. Why would Christ take Thomas’ sins bodily into His own flesh? For the same reason it so important for us to hear the truth about Jesus’ body and blood preached week after week. It’s not just a colorful description about God’s love for you. Sins are taken by Christ bodily in order to catch you in the act of betraying Him, to actually take the sin from our own body while we are yet sinners. This is why you can only know Christ rightly when He is wrapped in your sin.

The resurrected Christ is still the crucified Christ, but as Thomas learned, the sins that were his have somehow ended up in Christ's own body. Yet when they are on Christ, instead of festering unto death, they are defeated by Christ, and can’t defeat us. They are governed sins, because Christ is now their Lord. Christ, the God-man, communes with sinners like Thomas, who remain sinners their whole lives long, but who now in Christ do not have to bear the great weight of sins any more.

For You are the Father's Son Who in flesh the vict'ry won. By Your mighty pow'r make whole All our ills of flesh and soul. (Savior of the Nations, Come LSB 332:6)

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The Fourth Sunday of Advent December 22, 2013 Today's Reading: John 1:19-28 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 43:1-24; Revelation 9:13-10:11 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.” (John 1:26-27)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Another person gives birth to you, without your asking and without your doing. You are born. You are given life from another life. The pain of your first birth is the pain of separation. To continue in that way leads to the final separation of death. But now, the Son of Promise comes. The Son of Abraham, Son of Adam, the man who sprouted from Israel’s blasted stump, the Rose of Sharon, fruit of the virgin’s womb, little Mary’s son. He is flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone, our blood brother, Emmanuel. Jesus is what life is about; being born, new life, crying, breathing, moving, growing, changing, each step pregnant with the next. This is not an equation, an idea, or an exercise, but a movement “going to the Father.”

John the Baptizer doesn't point to himself, he points to Jesus. Jesus is what life is about. That is what we are joined into in Baptism. His name on us with the water and the Spirit, we are born His child. He is with us as food to our bodies and more, with bread and wine, His body and blood. We are connected. We are joined together. Jesus is alive in us. We are alive with His life that is always new. That is life. Your life bound up, joined with His. You are baptized into His life by being baptized into Jesus’ death. You are fed and feast upon Jesus by partaking of the power of Jesus’ resurrection in a Supper that is Him given to you as His body broken and given to you as His blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Now you live every second of your lives in the very presence of that judgment by His resurrection from the dead that absolves you of all sins and promises you eternal life through bodily death.

Jesus is what life is about. “He is the source of our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Our wisdom is Christ. Our Righteousness is Christ. Our Sanctification is Christ. Our redemption is Christ. Our life is Christ through baptism, today and forever. We share by water in His saving death. Reborn, we share with Him an Easter life As living members of a living Christ. Alleluia! (We Know that Christ Is Raised LSB 603:2)

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Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent December 23, 2013 Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-19 Daily Lectionary: Isaiah 43:25-44:20; Revelation 11:1-19 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him. (Deuteronomy 18:18-19)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. God promises, “I will raise up for them a Prophet...” To all those who trust this promise, regardless of when or where they lived, their faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:5). This faith trusts that all of God's promises are fulfilled in the coming of His Prophet, God's Word made flesh.

Misplaced faith, on the other hand, builds on the foundation of self-serving moralism. It doesn’t rest on God’s promises. Misplaced trust turns faith into poetry and therapy, making God’s promised Prophet a kind of vague, generic “truth-speaker.” It banishes distinctions, depends on feelings instead of God’s Word, and leads people to think that God has no power, that He can’t actually speak to you, can’t reveal Himself to you, and has not done so. It leads us to ignore Moses' confession, and instead believe that God and faith are our own self-serving inventions.

True faith clings to God's promised, long-awaited Prophet, Jesus our Lord. God's promises are hidden in Him, not in all sorts of worldly conditions like white and non-white, male and female, smart and stupid, good and bad, spiritual and non-spiritual. Whether you are radiation-sick, ulcerated, bone-chilled, stupefied, and starving or flush with well-being, it’s not about conditions. God’s promises are unconditional. Jesus is the Prophet who has given us His own name as a sign and seal of His faithfulness to His words. He speaks and His Spirit opens our ears to hear and our mouths to eat. Jesus is our Prophet and His promises are life, power, truth, grace, mercy, comfort, and true happiness, because they are God's own promises. His promises are our security and shield, not Moses, or the law, or any of the prophets who now await the resurrection with all of our spiritual fathers. Jesus alone guards and preserves us in faithfulness to His divine promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation today and forever. O Jesus, shepherd, guardian, friend, My Prophet, Priest, and King, My Lord, my life, my way, my end, Accept the praise I bring. (How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds LSB 524:4)