The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - December 31, 2023

This Sunday is the First Sunday after Christmas, and later in the day, it is also New Year’s Eve. I will give you only some notes on the morning worship for this day. (I’ll also give you a correction from last week. God’s “house” at the time of David was still a tent, the tabernacle, and not a “tension,” as my podcast mistakenly said.)

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 111, a great song of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord for His “great works.” His “wondrous works” and “the power of His works” are mentioned in v. 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. He “commands His covenant” and “remembers” it. He is “gracious and merciful” and “sends redemption” to His people. “The beginning of wisdom” and “good understanding” is in “fear of the Lord,” honor and respect for His “holy and awesome Name” and His “faithfulness and uprightness.”

In Isaiah 61:10-62:3, the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah “greatly rejoices in the Lord” because He clothes people with “robes” of “salvation and righteousness.” In the future, “righteousness and salvation” shall “go forth” from Jerusalem “as a burning torch,” that other nations can see. God’s people will be “called by a new name” and will have a “crown” and “royalty” as they are in “the hand of the Lord.”

Paul speaks, in the Epistle lesson, Galatians 4:4-7, of that promised time, when God sent forth His Son, born of a woman (the Virgin Mary), to do the work of “redeeming” people (from their sins) so that they might be “adopted” as the children of God, as “the Holy Spirit is sent into their hearts” to enable them to call God their “dear Father” and trust in His Son and be “heirs” of eternal life. All this is through God and His work for them (and for us).

We see all of this beginning to happen in the Gospel lesson, Luke 2:22-40, as Jesus is brought into the temple as a young child, and a “devout” man, Simeon, sees Him and by the power of the Holy Spirit recognizes Him as the Savior, the Light (the burning torch) for Jews and Gentiles, for “all peoples.” Simeon predicts that people would either “rise or fall” in relationship with Jesus (trust Him or not trust Him), that Jesus would be “opposed,” and that He and His mother would have much sorrow (His suffering and death) before His work would be completed in “glory.”

A woman, Anna, led by God, also came at the same time and gave thanks to God for the coming of Jesus as Savior and went out to tell others who were also waiting for the “redeeming” work of God through Him. The fulfillment of God’s great work in Jesus was already beginning and people were already receiving the robe of righteousness and salvation He came to earn for them (and for us).

Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 7

Last week, we heard that Zephaniah 3:9-20 is predicting the Messianic age, when the Lord Himself would be with His people, in the midst of them (3:15), especially in the coming of His own Son into this world, with the conception and birth of Jesus, the “Mighty One Who will save” (3:17). Jesus would do His saving work, so that “the judgments against us” (3:15) for our sins, our “deeds by which we have rebelled against God,“ are taken away (3:11). In that day, worshippers would come from Cush (Ethiopia) and many other nations, for the Good News of Jesus is for “the peoples… that all of them may call upon the Lord” (3:9-10). “God so loved the world” (John 3:16), and Christ “gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).

In His teaching and ministry, Jesus emphasized the same things predicted in Zephaniah 3, also. Jesus wished that people “would serve Him with one accord” (Zephaniah 3:9). See the prayer of Jesus in John 17:11, that His believers “may be one,” and the words of Paul in Ephesians 4:1-6, that believers “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” with “one body and one Spirit”… “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” This is spoken of throughout Ephesians 4, as well as the reality that “the visible church“ that we see is far from perfect because we struggle with sin and our sinful nature.

God also warned, through Zephaniah, “I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones,” who are all wrapped up in themselves instead of the Lord. The true unity is in what is sometimes called “the invisible church,” the true believers whom only God knows and sees, “the holy Christian church” of the creeds, all believers who are counted righteous by God’s grace through faith. “Abraham believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). “To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness” (Romans 4:3-8). “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ" (Galatians 2:16).

Zephaniah also called for humility in God’s people, instead of the pride warned about in 3:11. “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land… seek humility” (Zephaniah 2:3). And the Lord Himself said through Zephaniah, “You shall no longer be haughty… But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge” not in themselves but "in the Name of the Lord” (3:11-12). “I will gather those of you who mourn…” (3:18).

Think now about Jesus, early in His ministry, teaching in His Sermon on the Mount and beginning with the words, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land” (Matthew 5:3-5). Later on, Jesus said, “Come to Me… and learn from Me… for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30). And again Jesus said, “The greatest among you shall be your servant, whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:11-12). Jesus above all was that humble servant. He sacrificed His life for us and died for us so that He might save and forgive us. (See Philippians 2:1-11. Paul wanted the followers of Jesus “to be in full accord and of one mind”… not acting from “selfish ambition or conceit.” We don’t do that so well, but Jesus did it perfectly for us. He “emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant”… “He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.”)

We could go on and on with parallels between what is predicted in Zephaniah and what Jesus did as “the mighty one who will save” (Zephaniah 3:17). He gathered so many people who were “outcasts” in their society (3:19), not just the Ethiopian we mentioned last week. Think of the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:7-9, 16-18, 27-27, 39-42). See John 15:1-2 - “tax collectors and sinners” - and Luke 18:9-14 and Luke 19:1-10. Jesus also healed the “lame” and so many others (Matthew 11:2-6) just as also predicted in Zephaniah 3:19. Jesus also “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). That includes you and me, too. We would be lost in our sins and failings without Jesus and what He did and still does for us (Romans 3:19-24).

When Jesus carried out His ministry, people noticed and used some of the same terms as predicted in Zephaniah, too. When Jesus met Nathaniel (John 1:47-50), He said that he was “an Israelite in whom there was no deceit,” as desired in Zephaniah 3:9 - “pure speech” and “speaks no lies, nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue” (Zephaniah 3:13). Nathaniel responds with exactly the title for Jesus, the promised Savior, that is used in Zephaniah 3:15: “You are the King of Israel.” When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, humbly, on a donkey, people also cried out the same, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel” (John 12:13,15). Those opposed to Jesus mocked Him, as He hung on the cross, but said, “Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe” (Mark 15:32). He was “the King of Israel,” but stayed on the cross to do His saving work.

Finally, note the great encouragement given because the Lord would be with His people, as described in Zephaniah. His “humble and lowly people” will be cared for like sheep with their Shepherd. “They shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid” (Zephaniah 3:13). Jesus is that Good Shepherd (John 10:1ff and especially v.14). The Lord also says, “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak” (Zephaniah 3:16). The New Testament tells us that the Heavenly Father is treating us as His children, through Christ our Savior. That means He can sometimes discipline us for our good because He cares for us. (See Hebrews 12:3-13, and the words very similar to Zephaniah 3:16 in Hebrews 12:12-13: “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” And in Christ and His blood shed for us on the cross, we will come to the “heavenly Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22-24).

Listen, in closing, to the amazing care of the Lord, fulfilled in the Lord Jesus and His love and care for us as His children, described so beautifully in Zephaniah 3:17:  Your Savior “will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” We in turn, also, “sing aloud” and “shout” and “rejoice and exult with all our heart” (Zephaniah 3:14) that “the Lord our God did come into our midst” (Zephaniah  3:15,17), as we celebrate Jesus’ Christmas birth and all He did for us as our Savior and His continuing presence and help as our Risen Lord, alive forever for us, His children.

Sermon for Christmas Day - December 25, 2023

Sermon for Christmas Day, based on:

Isaiah 9:2-7

Titus 3:4-8

Luke 2:1-14      

Sermon originally delivered December 25, 2011

Preparing for Worship - December 24, 2023

I am discovering that some churches are canceling their Sunday morning services on December 24 because it is Christmas Eve, as well as the 4th Sunday in Advent, and there are many services later in the day. The readings for the morning are important for us, though, as a final preparation for the celebration of Christ’s birth later on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I’ll just take us through those readings in what I write here.

The Old Testament lesson is from 2 Samuel 7:1-11,16. David lived in “a house of cedar” as King, an indication of his wealth and beautiful home. In contrast, God’s house, the tabernacle, was still a tension. David wanted to build a better “house” for the Lord. Nathan agrees until the Lord appears to him and tells him to tell David not to build a house for Him. A son of David would build a house, and from that line of David, the Lord promises an everlasting kingdom.

The psalm is Psalm 89: 1-5, (19-29). The psalmist remembers the covenant made with His “Chosen One” from the line of King David. The Lord has “steadfast love” and “faithfulness,” and “in the heavens He will establish His faithfulness,” for “His offspring (singular) forever,” a reference to Jesus. He will be “the Firstborn,” the Highest, and in the Lord’s Name, His horn, (His strength) shall be exalted, and he will know “His Father, the Rock of Salvation, and will have a “throne” forever.

The One who will have this everlasting kingdom is clearly identified in the Gospel lesson, Luke 1:26-38, by the “angel Gabriel,” who announces the “virgin birth” of Jesus, through Mary. Mary is a "favored one, for she will conceive and bear a Son, Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” The really important One is Jesus, though, for “He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High.” "He will receive the promised throne of His father David," and “he will reign forever” and "of His kingdom there will be no end.” All this can happen, “for nothing will be impossible with God.” Mary “serves the Lord” by simply “trusting His Word.”

The Epistle lesson is from Romans 16:25-27. Paul assures believers that the “eternal God” will strengthen them (and us) with the “Gospel, the preaching of Jesus Christ,” and the “prophetic writings” of the Scriptures, and “bring about” in us “the obedience of faith” in the “mystery” of God’s saving plan for us “through Jesus Christ.”

All the other things we hear of and celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are the fulfillment of these Scriptures and as Mark says, “The beginning of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).

Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 6

Last week, we heard many more warnings and judgments against Cush (Lower Egypt and Ethiopia, Zephaniah 2:12), against Assyria and its great city, Nineveh (2:13-15), against Judah and Jerusalem, again (3:1-5), and against all the evil of the whole earth, on the last day (3:6-8), until “all the earth shall be consumed.”

Then, at last, come more words of comfort and hope and even rejoicing, as the Lord Himself will bring change, as He announces through Zephaniah. (In a way, this parallels what we have been hearing in the Advent season in our churches. John the Baptist and others have been calling people to repentance and confession of sins because everyone needs forgiveness of sins. Then comes the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Rejoicing Sunday. As Psalm 126 says, people have been crying out, “Restore our fortunes, O Lord,” and the Lord acts and “has done great things for us,” in His rescue of us, especially in Jesus Christ. Then, “We are glad!” “Our mouths are filled with laughter and shouts of joy,” even though there are still times of challenge and “weeping and tears.”)

In Zephaniah 3:9 we hear God’s promise that He will act and “will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord.” Obviously, only in eternal life, in the New Jerusalem of heaven, will there be only believers. But this is speaking of a time when, as 3:15 says, “the King of Israel, the Lord” Himself “is in your midst.” This is repeated in 3:17: “The Lord your God is in your midst,” with the addition, “a Mighty One who will save.” This is clearly referring to the Messianic age, when Jesus, God’s Son, came into the world to be the Savior of the world, Jews and non-Jews. The phrases are used again and again- “at that time” and “on that day.” (See 3:9, 3:11, 3:18, 3:19, 3:20.)

Jesus came to bring in the new Israel, “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16, 3:14,3:26-29), what we now call the Christian church. It is the Lord God Himself who “will bring people in, at the time He gathers His people together,” and He “will make them renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth” (3:20). This is especially the work of God the Holy Spirit, the New Testament reveals, as He works through God’s Word and the Sacraments to bring people from all nations to saving faith in Jesus.

Think about the Pentecost story in Acts 2, when people from many nations were brought to faith in Christ and baptism. See the story in Acts. 8:26-39, in fulfillment of Zephaniah 3:10, where a man from Cush (Ethiopia) is brought to faith in Jesus. An angel and “the Spirit” led Philip to reach out to him through the Scriptures and Baptism, and He was brought into the Christian faith. This man was a eunuch, a man castrated because of his position of service to the Queen of Ethiopia. That would have made him an outcast among the Jews, limited in what he could do, even as a follower of Judaism. But again, in the Messianic age, the Lord says through Zephaniah in 3:19, “I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise.” (I have also mentioned in previous studies that even though judgment would fall upon the Cushites in Zephaniah 2:12 for their many sins, there was still hope, in the coming of Jesus as Savior - and today, there are millions of Lutherans in Ethiopia, more than in the United States.)

With the coming of Christ and the Messianic age, there will be, above all, a clear proclamation of the forgiveness of sins, because of the saving work of Jesus and His dying on the cross in payment for the sins of the world. In Zephaniah 3:11, God says, “On that day, you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against Me.” And in 3:15 we hear, “The Lord has taken away the judgments against you.” What good news (Gospel) that was and still is! Whatever our sins and failures in the past, there is full and free forgiveness for us in Jesus and what He has done for us, through being brought to faith in Him, through the Word of God and our own Baptism. “The restores our fortunes, too, before our eyes” (Zephaniah 3:20).

I will stop here, as there is much more Good News in this prophecy of Zephaniah and how it directly relates to Jesus that we still have not looked at. The Lord’s continued blessings. If you are reading this just before Christmas, remember the many promises fulfilled in Jesus in the Christmas story, too. Best wishes in Christ.

Preparing for Worship - December 17, 2023

As we continue the Advent season, we hear more of the joy that comes to people as the promise of the Savior is fulfilled. The Psalm is Psalm 126, a “song” of “joy” and “laughter” as the “dream” came true, and God’s people, captive in Babylon, were set free and allowed to return to the land of Israel. Their “tears” were turned into “shouts of joy,” as at the time of a great harvest, or when rains came and “streams” appeared in a “dry” land. These words were a “song” as God’s people went up to Jerusalem, in later times, expecting that God would do an even “greater thing” with the coming of the Savior.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, and speaks of what would happen when “the Anointed One,” the Christ, would come in the power of “the Spirit of the Lord.” There would be “Good News” and “comfort” and “gladness” and “liberty” that the Lord would bring in His coming, with a new and “everlasting covenant.” His people would receive a “robe of righteousness” and “salvation” and would be a witness among “the nations” and “the peoples.”. (Jesus quotes from this passage in Luke 4:17-21 and says that He is is the Fulfillment of this Scripture.)

John the Baptist also “witnesses” to this truth in the Gospel lesson, John 1:6-8,19-28. He makes it very clear that he is not “the Light” sent from God, “the Christ,” but is only" a voice making a straight way for the Lord.” He speaks of One already “standing among them.” The very next day, John 1:29, John identifies Jesus as the One, “the Lamb of God, who takes away” the greatest problem, “the sin of the world.”

In the Epistle lesson, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, Paul calls upon those who have been brought to faith in Christ Jesus to “rejoice always” and “give thanks in all circumstances,” because “the Lord is faithful” and He will “sanctify” them “completely” and “keep them blameless” at the return of Christ. This is “the will of God in Christ Jesus” for them (and for us, as we receive the credit for all that Jesus did perfectly for us as our Savior.) In the meantime, we “test everything” according to the Word of God and seek to “hold fast to what is good” and “abstain from evil.”

Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 5

Last week, we heard more warnings of judgment for Judah and Jerusalem, in Zephaniah 2:1-3, though there are words of hope for humble people who seek the Lord and His righteousness, as the Lord led King Josiah to do, for a while. Then, the focus turns to judgment against the Philistines and their four major cities, including Gaza, as enemies of God’s people. They would be destroyed, and in the future, there is another word of hope for God’s people, as their land along the coast of the Great Sea would become pasture land for “the remnant of Judah.” Again, the focus changes to judgment for other perpetual enemies of Israel: the Moabites and Ammonites to the East. Their nations will also fall, and their “gods” are not real and are of no help.

We begin, then, with Zephaniah 2:12, with one verse predicting the fall of the Cushites, far to the South of Israel. Cush is the name for the area that is now called Ethiopia. Ethiopia was associated with Egypt and with the powerful city of Thebes - but much of this area fell to Assyrian armies in 663 BC.

The Assyrians seemed invincible and so powerful, with their capital city of Nineveh, far to the north of Jerusalem. If you remember the Book of Jonah, the leaders and people of Nineveh had listened to the message of the prophet Jonah, earlier, and were led to repent and pay attention to the One True God for a time, though Jonah was very unhappy about that. That allowed them to survive longer, though they later rejected the Lord and went right back to their evil ways and false gods. Now God raised up Zephaniah to predict the judgment and fall of Nineveh and the whole Assyrian empire, too. They had become such a cruel and hateful nation that most everyone was against them.

Meanwhile, the Babylonians had become stronger and, together with the Medes, were able to defeat the Assyrian armies and captured and totally destroyed the city of Nineveh in 612 BC. (Zephaniah 2:13-15) The city became a wasteland and disappeared for many centuries. The description of it as a place only for birds and wild animals was true. It had been an “exultant city that lived securely” (2:15). The mention of “capitals” refers to the tops of columns of abandoned and destroyed temples and palaces. The mention of “cedar work” was an indication of great wealth and luxury (2:14). See what the Lord says about this in Judah, through the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 22:13-17. Some of the ruins of the city were rediscovered in the mid-1800s. Around it is now the city known as Mosul, in Iraq, where there has been much fighting with ISIS forces in recent times.

The most serious problem with ancient Nineveh, of course, was its false gods and pride in itself, as if it were a god. God Himself had said twice in Isaiah 45:5-6, “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Already in Exodus 3:13-14, God was saying that His name was “I am Who I am,” and “I am” has sent me to you. Jesus, as the Son of God, said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and used the “I am” sayings about Himself. But here, the king of Babylon was saying, in effect, in Isaiah 14:13-14, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; … I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” And the Ninevites leaders were saying, “I am, and there is no one else.” In these cases, commentator Walter Roehrs says this is “the political form of man’s primal sin, the desire to be like God” (Genesis 3:5, 22).

Powerful nations can be like that, thinking that they are god-like. As Zephaniah, Chapter 3 begins, God switches back to His own city of Jerusalem, which He also calls “rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city.” The people “listen to no voice” but their own. “They accept no correction,” even from God. They “do not trust in the Lord” and “do not draw near to their God” (Zephaniah 3:1-2). “Their officials” are like “roaring lions,” and “their judges are like evening wolves.” They devour everything of others and leave nothing for the next day (3:3). Even the prophets “are fickle, treacherous men,” and the “priests profane what is holy and do violence to the Law" (3:4). “The Lord is just and righteous,” but “the unjust know no shame” in what they are doing (3:5). King Josiah tried to make many reforms, but they were not continuing, and too many people were slipping back into their evil patterns. Judgment is coming for all this.

In 3:6-8, then, the Lord says again that this coming judgment on Judah and Jerusalem is a pattern for judgment that is coming for all nations in the last days. “Surely people “will accept correction” and “fear Me,” says the Lord, “but all the more they are eager to make all their deeds corrupt” (3:7). Judgment comes, and “cities are desolate and laid waste, without inhabitants,” and no one pays attention (3:6). Therefore, “wait for Me,” says the Lord, for I will “gather nations and kingdoms” and “seize the prey” and “all the earth shall be consumed.” This is a picture given in the New Testament, too, for the last day, the Day of Judgment. Think of some of the Scripture readings we have heard in the last weeks of the old church year and even in Advent. Judgment is coming for unbelievers, for all those rejecting the Lord and not trusting in Him through Jesus our Savior (Matthew 25:31-46, 2 Peter 3:8-13, etc.).

But finally, beginning in 3:9, we hear words of promise that the Lord can turn things around for His people, “humble and lowly.” We will focus on these words of hope, in the final portion of God’s message through Zephaniah, next week.

NEW Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent - December 10, 2023

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent, based on:

Isaiah 40:11

2 Peter 3:8-14

Mark 1:1-8         

Sermon originally delivered December 9, 2023

 

Repentant Joy

Let us pray: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.” Amen (Psalm 19:14).

The text for our meditation this evening is the Gospel, read just a few minutes ago. You are welcome to follow along with it as printed in your bulletin.

We are now in the Advent season, and if you are an old-timer, like me, you might remember how things used to be.

• The color of Advent was purple, the same somber color we use in the Lenten season when we think of the suffering and death of Jesus for our sins.
• We omitted parts of the worship that were more joyous, as we still do, but we were especially to avoid any Alleluias until Christmas Eve.
• I was taught to avoid, also, singing any Christmas hymns in worship until we actually reached Christmas Eve itself.

Things change, don’t they? We value tradition, as Lutherans, as they keep pointing us to the Scriptures and to Christ, but there is no Scripture that says we must do Advent in only one way.

The blue color we now use is beautiful, and it reminds us of looking up at a blue sky on a beautiful day and thinking of the eternal joy that Jesus came to bring to us, as He was born in Bethlehem, as our Savior - and the joy that He will bring us when He comes back from the sky, with some clouds, on the last day, to bring us everlasting joy in heaven.

It is what Mark says in the first verse of our Gospel lesson. The Advent season is “the beginning of the Gospel - the Good News - of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” who came for us, to bring us hope and joy.

We can’t avoid our culture, either, with Christmas songs, many of them secular, beginning long before December, and many Christmas movies on competing TV channels already beginning in mid-October. And much of this “Christmas” emphasis stops right after Christmas, when we are just beginning our Christian Christmas celebration and the singing of Christmas hymns, through Epiphany, January 6.

What we don’t want to miss out on, though, in all these changes, is another important part of the Advent message - that the only reason Jesus had to come was because of our own sins and the many sins of our very troubled world.

Mark quotes in our text for tonight from the Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and then from the prophet, Isaiah. God said through Malachi that He would send a messenger before Jesus, who would prepare the way for Jesus. Isaiah predicted, in our Old Testament lesson for today, that this messenger would be “a voice, crying in the wilderness and calling people to receive “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of their sins.”

Mark clearly identifies John the Baptist as this messenger, this voice, preparing the way for the Lord. Mark also indicates that many people from Jerusalem and Judea went out to see and hear John and were baptized by Him, confessing their sins.

Some, if they knew their Old Testament, would realize that John was wearing the same hairy clothes and a belt of leather that the great prophet Elijah wore (2 Kings 1:8) - and that there had been predictions that Elijah would come, turning hearts of people, before the Promised Savior came (Malachi 4:5-6). Jesus Himself identified John as the one coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, as did an angel earlier (Luke 1:16-17, Matthew 11:11-14).

And yet John was always pointing beyond himself, as our text says, to Jesus as the Mightier One. In fact, John says that even as a prophet of God, he was not worthy enough even to stoop down and untie the sandals of Jesus. Among the Jews, a servant could be asked to do almost anything his master wanted, except for undoing his master’s shoes, some rabbis taught. Only the lowliest of slaves could be expected to do that. In comparison with Jesus, John was putting himself even lower than the lowliest of slaves.

John could baptize with water. But only Jesus was the Christ, the One anointed by God to be the Savior of the world and to do the work necessary to forgive our sins, by His perfect life and His suffering and death on the cross and His mighty resurrection. Only Jesus was the Son of God, as well as a man, sent from His Heavenly Father, and able to baptize not just with water, but with the power of the Holy Spirit.

And think now about the call to repentance from John and, later on, from Jesus Himself, and how well people do with that. To repent means not only to be sorry for our sins and confess them; its root meaning is “to turn,” to turn away from our sins and to the Lord and His will for us.

Some churches say that we must make that turn on our own, as an act of our own will, and only when we have made that decision, will God pay attention to us. Many others have found, though, that they can’t make that turn on their own. No one can, the Bible says.

If you have ever read about groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and other such “Anonymous” groups, you know that their first two principles are:

• “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol” (or whatever our problem was) and
• "We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us.”

AA gets off track in other ways, because they don’t speak clearly of the Biblical fact that only the One True Triune God can restore us. Our God is the only real Higher Power, as God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, born in Bethlehem to rescue and forgive and restore us, and bring us to faith through God the Holy Spirit, whom He and the Father sent.

Martin Luther discovered that, through the Scriptures, after he had struggled and struggled in his own power and life to be a good Christian, and couldn’t do it, in His own power. Luther finally wrote, in his Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel (that Good News Mark speaks about in our text) and enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and kept me in the true faith” (Explanation of the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed).

On Pentecost, Peter preached the Good News of Jesus as Savior, and then said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit;” and 3,000 people were brought to faith. The whole package, from repenting and confessing and turning to Jesus, was the promise and the gift of God through His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39).

There’s an Old Testament prayer in Lamentations 5:20 that literally says, “Turn us unto You, O Lord; and we shall be turned; renew our days.” God turns us, through Christ and through the Holy Spirit, to Himself in the gift of faith.

And even repentance is a gift of God that God enables in us. When the early Christians preached the Gospel to fellow Jews, they said in Acts 5:31, “God exalted Jesus at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” And as the Gospel was spread to non-Jews, the believers in Acts 11:18 “glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also,” (even to non-Jews) God has given repentance that leads to life.” Martin Luther said, in His 95 Theses, at the beginning of the Reformation that “the whole life of a Christian is one of (that kind of) repentance” as a gift of God.

We have a confession of sins in every Communion service in our church. But sometimes we just rattle through the words and forget what a great privilege it is to think and talk honestly about our sins and our struggle to do right, and that our Lord still cares about us and forgives us and is the one who can turn our lives more toward Him and His will, through His power.

And later in our service, we remember our baptism, when many of us were brought to the Christian faith through the Spirit’s gift of new life for us, and as our liturgy says, “With repentant joy,” we come to the Lord’s Supper and “receive again the salvation accomplished for us,” as a gift, “by the all-availing sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood on the cross.” Receiving such gifts is truly Advent “repentant joy” in our Lord.      

Please rise for prayer: “Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they are safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen (Philippians 4:7).

Preparing for Worship - December 10, 2023

The Scriptures this week continue the Advent theme of Christ’s coming to be our Savior, bringing forgiveness of sins, and His coming again on the last day.

The Psalm is Psalm 85. The psalmists, sons of Korah, knew that God had shown mercy to His people and forgiven their sins in the past. Now, in a difficult time, they pray that the Lord will again “revive” and “restore” His people with “His steadfast love” and “salvation.” The psalmists remind the people “not to turn back to folly,” but to “fear” and trust the Lord and His “faithfulness and righteousness” brought to them.

In the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 40:1-11, Isaiah speaks of God’s “comfort” and “good news” that would come to His people. “In the wilderness the way shall be prepared” by “a voice” for “the glory of the Lord” and “the Word of the Lord” coming. “The Lord God Himself will come” to “the cities of Judah,” like “a Shepherd tending His flock and caring for His lambs.” Jesus is, of course, that Good Shepherd.

The Gospel lesson is Mark 1:1-8. Mark announces “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” “His way is being prepared” by John the Baptist, who is the fulfillment of prophecy quoted from Malachi and Isaiah. John preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin,” but made it clear that Someone much greater was coming, (our Lord Jesus) who would bring baptism with water and “the Holy Spirit.”

The Epistle lesson is from 2 Peter 3:8-14, another reminder of Christ’s second coming on the last day. He is not “slow” about His return, but works with a different sense of time, and is patiently wishing that more people “should reach repentance” and faith in Him. Peter encourages all believers to seek to live in “holiness and godliness,” as we “wait for and hasten” the day of Christ’s return.

Bible Study - Zephaniah - Part 4

Last week, we heard very strong language of judgment in Chapter 1 of Zephaniah for God’s people of Judah and Jerusalem, because of their sin and rebellion against their Lord. Days of “darkness and gloom” were coming, which did happen during the Babylonian captivity (Zephaniah 1:4-16). This judgment was a prelude and picture of ultimate judgment on the last day for all “blind, sinful” unbelievers and the “consuming” and passing away of heaven and earth as we know it (Zephaniah 1:17-18).

As Zephaniah Chapter 2 begins, the “shameless nation” of Judah is called to gather together before “the day of the burning anger of the Lord comes” and they pass away “like chaff” (2:1-2). They are called upon to “seek the Lord” in humility, being humble ones of the land, who “seek righteousness” and seek to “do the Lord’s just commands.”
Maybe He will keep them “hidden on the day of His anger” (2:3). (Remember how King Josiah did repent and return to His Lord and sought to make reforms and was spared much trouble for a time, for himself and Judah.)

Then, the Lord directed His attention to four of the five main cities of the Philistine enemies of Judah. The fifth, Gath, had already been defeated earlier. (See 2 Chronicles 26:6.) These cities are listed in Zephaniah 2:4 - Gaza (the same area that we hear so much about today), Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron. (If you have an ESV Bible, you can find these cities on one of the colored maps at the beginning of the book. They are in the Southwest of the Land of Judah, along the coast of the Great Sea, the Mediterranean.) The words in 2:4 indicate that they would all be destroyed. Ashdod, for example, would be defeated at “noon,” in broad daylight, an unusual time for an attack, and Ekron would be totally uprooted, with nothing left there. The Philistines had been perpetual enemies of God’s people, even from the days when the land was still called Canaan. These people are also called Cherethites (Cretans) because many of them had originally come from the island of Crete (2:5). They had often attacked Israel and often led Israelites to worship their false gods and do evil in the eyes of the Lord. (Goliath was the Philistine giant that David defeated with a slingshot, long before, in 1 Samuel 17.)

Now, though, some words of hope come for God’s people in Zephaniah 2:6-7. This seacoast area would become pasture land for shepherds of “the remnant of the house of Judah.” “For the Lord their God would be mindful of them and restore their future.” See the prophecy also in Isaiah 37:31-32 for the “remnant” of Judah and Jerusalem. This would not happen until much later, after the Babylonian captivity, but those who were humbled before the Lord (Zephaniah 2:3) and trusted Him would receive the land again.

The prophetic words of God through Zephaniah then move from the southwest of Judah to the East, where more continual enemies of Israel were, the people of Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8-11). The Moabites and Ammonites had often made trouble for God’s people and “taunted” and “reviled” them and sought to lead them astray, away from the One True God (Zephaniah 2:8,10). We also heard, for example, of people of Judah who worshiped the Lord but also worshiped Milcom, an Ammonite god, in Zephaniah 1:5, and were in big trouble with the Lord. On the other hand, Ruth was a Moabite woman who came to follow and believe in the Lord, married Boaz, and became an ancestor of King David and of Jesus Himself. And Jesus died and rose again to be the Savior of all people, not just His own Jewish people, of course. At this point, though, because of their opposition to God’s faithful people, the Moabite and Ammonite lands would become “like Sodom and Gomorrah’ and their people defeated (2:9).

These people who worshiped false gods would offer food to their gods to feed them. Since their worshipers would be defeated and gone, the Lord makes fun of these gods and says that they will become “famished” and starve (2:11). This is prophetic of the end of this age when everyone will have to realize and admit that there is only the One True Triune God and that no other gods were ever real (Philippians 2:9-11).

I will stop here for this week. Next week, we will see more condemnations and trouble for other nations, warnings again for Judah and Jerusalem, and finally, more words of great hope in the coming Savior. The Lord’s continued blessings, as you keep searching the Scriptures.