The lutheransermons's Podcast

Sermon for the 4th Sunday in Advent - December 19, 2021

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, based on:

Micah 5:2-5a

Hebrews 10:5-10

Luke 1:39-45

Sermon originally delivered December 23, 2012

Preparing for Worship - December 19, 2021

This Sunday, December 19, is the 4th Sunday in Advent, and we will have celebrated Christmas by the next Sunday. Our Scripture readings  on Sunday lead us ever close to the birth of our Savior, Jesus.

The Old Testament lesson, Micah 5:2-5a, predicts the birth of the Savior in little Bethlehem. He will be Shepherd and Ruler for people, and He will be their Peace, even to the ends of the earth. This remarkable prophecy was made nearly 700 years before Christ Jesus was born and was the reason the wise men were sent to Bethlehem to find Him.

The Psalm is Psalm 80:1-7, where God is called the Shepherd of Israel, and God’s people pray for Him: “Stir up Your might and come to save us… Let Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” God did come to save us, at last, in the person of His own Son, the Son of Man (v.17), baby Jesus. In Him, in His face, we receive salvation.

The Epistle is from Hebrews 10:5-10. Another Old Testament prophecy is quoted, from Psalm 40:6-8. As Christ came into the world, He already knew His Father’s plan and was willing to do His Father’s will and sacrifice that human body He was given, through Mary, to pay for all the sins of the world, “once for all.”

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 1:39-45 (46-55), Mary, already carrying the body of Jesus in her womb, goes to visit Elizabeth. Elizabeth is also pregnant with her son, John, and baby John leaps in her womb when Mary comes, carrying Jesus within her. Elizabeth is “filled with the Holy Spirit” and knows that Mary is “the mother of Her Lord,” the Lord Jesus, coming to her. Jesus truly is the promised Savior, as Mary then sings in the words of the Magnificat. She, too, needs God, her Savior, who has come for her in the Person of her Son. He brings her grace, as He does all of us, as we are brought to trust in Him.

Bible Study - The Christmas Story Part 5 - Luke 1:5-25

Last week, we looked a little more at Jesus as our “Substitute” in a perfect life and in suffering for all our sins, in our place. We also looked at Luke’s preface to his Gospel, where he tells Theophilus and us that he writes so that we may have “certainty” about and believe the things we have been taught about Jesus and God’s plan of salvation.

This made me think again about the very different messages we get about believing from so many today. An anniversary edition of the book The Polar Express came out recently. A popular movie has been made with the same title, starring Tom Hanks. A boy has started to doubt if there really is a Santa, and he and other children are taken on a mysterious train ride to the North Pole. They meet Santa and his elves, and are called to believe in him. The boy even has BELIEVE written on his return ticket, and he does believe - BELIEVE IN SANTA - when he gets what he wants at Christmas. Maybe you have also seen one or both version of the movie Miracle on 34th Street. This time it is a young girl and her mom and many others who do not believe in Santa any more and come back to saying, “I Believe.”

These are interesting, entertaining stories and movies. We know better as Christians, but we can be overwhelmed by all these messages, and what we really need to believe - BELIEVE IN JESUS - can be obscured. Santa and all the presents and family activities and gatherings, etc. are good; but they won’t get us far, unless Christ Jesus is at the center as we believe in Him and His good news for us, above all. We need His guidance and love and forgiveness also at Christmas.

Luke 1:5-25 tells us about the miraculous coming of John the Baptist. According to prophecy (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6, for example) a messenger had to come first, someone like Elijah, to prepare people for the coming of the Lord Himself, in the person of the God/man Jesus. The miraculous birth of John prepared the way for the even more miraculous birth of Jesus, too.

Luke begins in v.5 with mention of “Herod, king of the Jews,” at the time of the announcement of John’s coming birth. Herod the Great ruled between 37-1 BC, though scholars disagree on the exact dates. He was called “great” because of his building projects, especially the work on the temple in Jerusalem, and other things. At the same time, Herod was not even a Jew and had been appointed king by the Romans and was a very cruel leader. (The Herod we hear about in the ministry of Jesus was a relative, but obviously not this same person.)

Genesis 49:10 had predicted that future leaders who held a “scepter,” a kingly symbol, would come from the line of Judah, one of the 12 sons of Jacob. King David was from that line, and so was Jesus, the Bringer of Shiloh, of Peace, (Isaiah 9:6-7) and King of Kings (Revelation 1:5 and 17:14). John would announce the coming of Jesus and the end of the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, the old way that had been corrupted by Herod and so many others.

Zechariah (Luke 1:5-6) was still a priest of the Old Covenant at this time. Josephus, a Jewish historian, and others estimated that there were then about 20,000 Jewish priests, divided into 4 divisions and 24 classes (family groups; see 1 Chronicles 24:10 for mention of the Abijah family). Zechariah’s wife was Elizabeth, who was also from the priestly line, through the first Jewish priest, Aaron, a brother of Moses (Numbers 26:59).

Zechariah and Elizabeth were “righteous” and “blameless” before God. This does not mean that they were perfect, but that they trusted God by faith and sought to follow His commandments (basic principles, like the 10 Commandments) and statutes (specific regulations, like what priests were to do). They were counted as righteous as they trusted God’s promises and lived with His forgiveness.

A great sorrow was that they were unable to have children. Psalms 127 and 128 speak, for example, of the joy and blessing of children and children’s children. Not only did Zechariah and Elizabeth miss out on this blessing, there was also an attitude among many Jews that couples who could not have children had done some things really wrong and were being punished for their sins. (See how Elizabeth speaks of her “reproach among people” - how they looked down upon her, simply because she had no children) (Luke 1:25). The call in Genesis was to be “fruitful and multiply,"” but that does not always happen in a now fallen world, even for people like Zechariah and Elizabeth, who are clearly called “righteous before God.”  Nor do the Scriptures look down on people who are single, or who cannot adopt a child, etc.

It is also clear that Zechariah and Elizabeth had kept their faith and kept praying to God, even when they were beyond childbearing years and did not understand what was going on for them. Zechariah also faithfully went to carry out his work as priest “when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood” (Luke 1:7-9).

Each family group of about 830 priests served for a week in the temple, twice a year. There were many responsibilities, including helping with the weekly Sabbath days and other things, including “burning incense”  in the temple, each morning at dawn and each evening, around 3 pm or a little after. (See Exodus 30:7-8.)

Burning incense was a great honor, because it involved going into the presence of God in the Holy Place in the temple, where the Golden Altar of Incense was located. A priest was “chosen by lot” if he drew out a white stone (see also “a white stone” mentioned in Revelation 2:17); and only once in his lifetime could a priest be chosen for this sacred duty. Another priest would put hot coals on the Golden Altar and then the chosen priest would enter and place frankincense or a similar valuable incense on the coals and burn it, until the good-smelling smoky incense rose into the air.

What was the significance? See Psalm 141:2 and Revelation 8:3-4, for example. The incense represented the prayers of the believers rising toward God in heaven and gave assurance that these prayers would reach God and be heard. People gathered at the temple for prayer, but were not allowed into the Holy Place. They waited in outer areas of the temple, while “the hour of incense” went on. When the specially chosen priest had finished burning incense, he would come out to the people and give them a benediction, maybe Numbers 6:24-26 or similar words, assuring them that God did look upon them and hear their prayers.

At dawn, fewer people gathered for prayer, so it was likely at the evening (later afternoon) sacrifice that Zechariah went into the Holy Place alone
to do this incense burning. (See Luke 1:10, and Acts 3:1, as an example of how the apostles Peter and John still followed this practice of waiting in prayer at the temple, with others.)

Suddenly, someone else appeared (was seen by Zechariah) to the right of the incense altar, an angel of the Lord. Zechariah “was troubled” and “fear fell upon him.” The angel, though, spoke and told him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah” (literally, “stop being afraid”). This is  often the reaction when an angel appears to someone (Luke 1:11-13).( See also how the same angel, Gabriel, appeared to Daniel at the hour of the evening sacrifice, in Daniel 9:21, even though Daniel was in Babylon, praying.)

In the case of Zechariah, the angel went on to tell Zechariah that his many years of prayer for a child had been heard, and that finally he and Elizabeth would have a son, who was to be called John (the Lord is gracious and merciful). This child would bring joy and gladness to this couple and to many others. He would be “great before the Lord” and would take a kind of Nazarite vow, not drinking wine or strong drink, and would live a very simple, sacrificial life (Numbers 6). He would be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in Elizabeth’s womb. (Note the reference to the third person of the Triune God here at the beginning of the New Testament era. The Holy Spirit had already been at work in the Old Testament, but now he would be even more evident and active in the New Testament times) (Luke 1:14-15).

John’s primary work would be to “turn many of the children of Israel (back) to the Lord their God.” He would “go before” the Lord God Himself, who was also coming. “In the spirit and power of Elijah,” the Old Testament prophet, John would “turn the hearts of fathers to their children” (with real repentance and spiritual concern for themselves and their children,) that “disobedience” would be turned into “wisdom that justly,” rightly, wants to follow the Lord. Then people would be prepared for the Lord when He came. (See Luke 1:16-17 and the prophecy of this in Malachi 3:1 and 4:5-6, and words of Jesus in Matthew 11:14 and 17:10-13 that John the Baptist was definitely the one who was to come in  “the spirit and power of Elijah” and do this preparatory work.)

Sadly, Zechariah was unprepared for the angel or the angel’s message. Doubt and disbelief seemed to come on him, too. He said, literally, “According to what shall I know this?” It was as if he was looking for a sign or some other evidence for what the angel said would happen. After all, he was an old man and his wife was old, too - far beyond child-bearing years. The angel then introduced himself as Gabriel, the same angel who had appeared to Daniel and who would soon appear also to Mary, as we will see. He had been in the presence of God in heaven and now had been sent to speak to Zechariah and bring him “this Good News.”

However, because Zechariah “did not believe the angel’s words,” he would be “silent and unable to speak until the day that these things took place.” This was a kind of judgment on him for his failure to believe the Word of God; but it was also the very sign he wished for. He would have about nine months to think about trusting God’s Word, no matter what, as he was silent. The angel also promised two more times that Zechariah’s son, John, would definitely be born. The day would come when “these things would take place.” They would be “fulfilled in their time” - in God’s good timing.

This was truly “Good News,” too - Good News for Zechariah and Elizabeth, after all their praying and waiting for a child - and Good News for the whole world, because the Savior of all was coming, and John was coming to prepare the way for Him (Luke 1:18-20).

Meanwhile, many people had gathered at the temple and were waiting for Zechariah to come out from the Holy Place and give them a benediction and assurance that their prayers were heard by God in heaven. They were wondering why he was delayed in coming out to them. Finally, Zechariah came out, but could not speak, and they realized
“that he had seen a vision in the temple.” He could only makes signs in order to dismiss the people.

Zechariah finished the remaining days of his priestly service and then went home, and we hear very simply, “After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived.” It was a normal conception between a man and wife, even though it happened by a miracle of God, for two very old people. Elizabeth then kept away from other people for five months, until it was very clear that she really was expecting a child. She said, “The Lord has done this for me, when He looked upon me in mercy, and has taken away my reproach among people” (Luke 1:18-25). (See also Numbers 6:24-26, again. Blessings come when the Lord looks upon His people with His undeserved favor, with His grace.)

If you had been Zechariah, what do you think you would have done in this situation? Abraham struggled when he was told that he and Sarah would have a child, especially as they kept getting older and older, with no son. Yet we read, Abram finally “believed the Lord, and He counted it to Him as righteousness” (Genesis 15). Mary was “greatly troubled” and had questions, when the angel told her that she would give birth to Jesus, as we shall hear. Yet she also finally said, “Let it be to me, according to your Word” (Luke 1:26-38). Haven’t we all struggled, at times, with what is happening in our lives and trying to understand and accept God’s Word and His plans?

We just heard in worship about John the Baptist himself, later on, sitting in prison and wondering if Jesus really was the Promised One from God, when he, John, was having so much trouble. Jesus told him of all the great things happening and reminded him, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:18-28).

Paul also taught, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” The key is staying “in the Lord” and seeking to trust Him and His Word and plans, even if we do not always understand them. Then, as Paul says, “The peace of God which surpasses all” (of our human) “understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7). May the Lord give us grace to trust Him in this way, even in the challenges we face.

Sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent - December 12, 2021

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent, based on:

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Philippians 4:4-7

Luke 7:18-35

Sermon originally delivered December 16, 2012

Preparing for Worship - December 12, 2021

This is the 3rd Sunday in Advent and is called “Rejoicing Sunday,” (Gaudete Sunday) when the pink candle is lit on an Advent wreath. In the midst of a time of repentance in preparation for Christmas, and even in times of trouble,  there is also joy in God’s love and mercy in Christ our Savior.

In the Psalm, Psalm 85, God’s people are grateful that the Lord has forgiven them and restored their fortunes; but troubles and setbacks continue, and they pray that the Lord would “revive them again” and “speak peace” to them and renew their joy in Him.

The Old Testament lesson is Zephaniah 3:14-20. God had sent many strong warning to the people of Judah and other nations; but now the prophet Zephaniah calls for rejoicing, because God will be with His “humble and lowly” people in mercy, to “quiet them by His love and save” them. Even the “lame” and “outcasts” and people “shamed” by others will be blessed by the Lord and Savior.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 7:18-28 (29-35), John the Baptist is suffering in prison for doing the right things and needs reassurance from Jesus that He, Jesus, is the promised Savior. Jesus points to all the ways that He is fulfilling prophecy and helping both the physically and spiritual poor and needy people with His mercy and Good News. “Blessed is the one who is not offended by Me,” Jesus says to John. He calls him simply to trust God’s ways and plans, even if he cannot fully understand them.

In the Epistle lesson, Philippians 4:4-7, Paul is in prison for the faith, but still has joy and calls upon us, too, even in difficult times, to “rejoice in the Lord always.” We can turn all of our anxieties and fears and questions over to the Lord in prayer and trust that He will bring us “peace which surpasses all understanding” and will “guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

Sermon for Midweek Advent 2 - December 8, 2021

Sermon for Midweek Advent 2 - "People of Hope: Finding Hope in Dark Days" - Joseph and Mary

 

Sermon originally delivered December 12, 2012

Bible Study - The Christmas Story Part 4 - Luke 1:1-4; Others

Last week, we looked at a lot of short Bible passages that told us why Jesus had to come as He did, as a substitute for us. He had to be a true human man, a second Adam, since the first Adam had failed to do God’s will and brought sin into the whole world and to us, too. Jesus had to be tempted as we are, yet never sin, and be the perfect person we should be but fail to be. God’s own Son had to be the One to take on that human flesh, for only He could be, as God, as well as man, great enough to substitute for and pay the penalty for all sinners, for the whole world, including us.

Look now at a few more Scriptures about Jesus as our Substitute, suffering the punishment for our sin, in our place. 2 Corinthians 5:19 says that “in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” How could their own sins not be counted against people? V.19 says, “For our sake, God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
This is the great exchange. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself and gave us forgiveness and counts us as holy and acceptable to Him, as we simply trust in Him and what He has done for us, in suffering the just punishment for sin in our place.

Look also at 1 Peter 1:18-19. We all lived in futile ways, from Adam onward, but were ransomed by Jesus. We were set free by the “precious blood of Christ " - real human blood, shed on the cross for us. Gold or silver would not be enough, but the sacrifice of the true Son of God, like a perfect Lamb, without spot or blemish - no sin - is great enough to pay for the sins of the whole world. (See John 1:29 and 1 Peter 2:22-25.)

Jesus “committed no sin but “bore our sins in His body (a real human body) on the tree” of the cross. As a result, because He was also God the Son, we “die to sin and live in and for righteousness. By His wounds, we are healed and returned” to Him, our Good Shepherd. In all this, we do not earn or qualify ourselves for forgiveness and new life. God did it all, with His rescue plan for us in the God/man Jesus. “He qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.” He delivered us from darkness and “transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14). Christmas happened so that Jesus could come into this world to do and complete this saving work for us.

And how did Christmas happen? We turn now to the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, where we have the true details God chose to reveal to us of the coming of Christ. We begin with Luke 1:1-4. Who was Luke, the author of this Gospel? We actually know very little about him. He was a physician and a Gentile, not a Jew (Colossians 4:11-14). He was somehow brought to faith in Christ and first appeared with Paul on his second and third missionary journeys. Luke also wrote the Book of Acts and indicates his (Luke’s) presence whenever he says “we” did this or that, and these things happened to “us.” (See Acts16:10-40 and 20:5-21:18 and 27:1-28:16.)

Luke also sends greetings, along with Paul, later on in Paul’s Letter to the Colossians and to Philemon. He was clearly very important to Paul and was called “beloved” and a ”fellow worker” of Paul; and he was the only person with Paul when Paul was in prison in Rome for the second time, near the time of his execution for being a Christian, at the hands of Nero and the Romans.

That is all that we know of Luke from the Scriptures, other than what we learn indirectly, as we turn to the Gospel of Luke, Luke 1:1-4. Luke was a very learned man, and his Greek is some of the best in the Scriptures. He begins his Gospel with an introduction, a prologue, as famous Greek historians often did. The difference is that these historians introduced and highlighted themselves. Luke focuses upon “the things that have been accomplished among us” by God - actions done by God on our behalf.

This is not philosophy for our living or what we are to do to succeed in life or be happy. Luke does not mention or identify anything much about himself. He does talk about those original disciples and others who were with Jesus “from the beginning” and how important their teaching and witness had been. (That is apparently how Luke himself had become a believer in Jesus, through their witness.)

See John 15:26-27 and Acts 1:21-22, as examples of the importance of followers “from the beginning” who could tell all about Jesus from the start. See the importance of “eyewitness” testimony, in what Peter says in 2 Peter 1:16-21, and his focus on the “prophetic Word” of God revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Peter does not “follow cleverly devised myths” but simply proclaims the truth of “the power and coming of our Lord Jesus.” He and others were there and saw and heard these very things when they were with Jesus. See also Acts 6:1-4, where the original disciples knew that they had to be busy with “preaching the Word of God” and carrying out “the ministry of the Word.”

Much was being done, but at this point, probably only the Gospel of Matthew had been put in writing. Some think that Mark’s Gospel was also written at this time, but as I indicated in the Gospel of Mark study, other evidence says that Mark wrote only after both Paul and Peter had died for the faith.

So, “it seemed good” to Luke “to write an orderly account” (see also Acts 11:1-4 and 1 Corinthians 14:40, for emphasis upon speaking and writing in an “orderly” way) about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Luke says that he had “followed all things closely for some time," and he had surely met many early Christian people and talked with them. Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16, while Luke was with him, saying: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” God definitely used Luke to add much to what Matthew had written about the birth and early years of Jesus, as we will see in weeks ahead.

Paul wrote this Gospel and Acts for a friend, Theophilus, whose name means “Lover of God.” (See the mention of Theophilus also in Acts 1:1-2 and the clear mention that Acts was the second book written by Luke, after his Gospel.) Above all, Luke says that through what he has written, he wants to give Theophilus and all of us, too, greater “certainty (firmness, confirmation) concerning the things we have been taught.” The word for what is “taught” is the Greek word from which we get our word “catechism.” The Word of God is our primary “catechism” and we use Luther’s catechism only because it faithful to the Word and filled with the Word.

One final thought for today. Some groups say that as long as we focus on Jesus, the rest of what the Bible says isn’t really so important. Christ is the key to the Scriptures and is our Savior. However, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is useful,” as we heard Paul say. Look at the little story Luke included in Acts 18:24-26. Apollos was eloquent, knew Scripture, and taught accurately about Jesus. Wasn’t that enough?
It was not, for Apollos did not even know about Christian baptism. An early Christian couple, Aquila and Priscilla, had to take Apollos aside to teach him the way of God more accurately - especially the meaning and importance of Christian baptism.

Read through Acts and notice how often baptism is mentioned and how many people are baptized, together with hearing the Word. In fact, the word for teaching more “accurately” is the same word used by Luke in Luke 1:3 for following all things “closely."  It is very important to follow the Word of God “accurately” and “closely." It all fits together in God’s saving plan for us, and everything is important.

Next week, we will get into what Luke tells us about the one who was prophesied to prepare the way for Jesus, John the Baptist, and how he is important, too.

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent - December 5, 2021

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent, based on:

Malachi 3:1-7b

Philippians 1:2-11 

Luke 3:1-14

Sermon originally delivered December 9, 2012

 

Preparing for Worship - December 5, 2021

The Old Testament lesson for this Sunday, the Second Sunday of Advent, is Malachi 3:1-7b. The Lord says through the prophet Malachi that He will send a messenger to prepare the way, and then He, the Lord, will come to His people. This will be a time of cleansing and purifying, as people’s sins are exposed, and they are brought to repentance and return to the Lord.

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 3:1-14 (15-20), we hear that John the Baptist is that promised messenger. He calls people to “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” and to “bear fruits in keeping with repentance.” John also promises that people will then “see the salvation of God.”

Jesus is the One who came after John and brought salvation to the world. Paul rejoices in His saving work, in the Epistle lesson from Philippians 1:2-11. Paul is in prison for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus; yet he knows that he and all believers have the grace of God. He prays that all believers will continue in faith and love in Christ Jesus.

The Psalm, Psalm 66:1-12, is an Old Testament expression of joy in the Lord and His “awesome deeds” for His people. Though there are times of trial and testing, the psalmist says to the Lord, “You have not let our feet slip… and have brought us out to a place of abundance.” “Come and see what the Lord has done,” the psalmist says to all people.

Sermon for Midweek Advent 1 - December 1, 2021

Sermon for Midweek Advent 1 - "People of Hope: Finding Hope in Dark Days" 

Luke 1:5-25 - Zechariah and Elizabeth

 

Sermon originally delivered December 5, 2012