The lutheransermons's Podcast

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

Bible Study - The Christmas Story Part 3 - Various Passages

Last week, we looked especially at John 1:1-18, the prologue to John’s Gospel, and then other passages in his writings that refer to two key ideas that he presented, as God inspired him to write: 1) God the Son existed from all eternity as the second person of the one true Triune God, as God the Son, and was involved in the Creation and in other activity of the Triune God in the Old Testament; 2) according to God’s plan, God the Son eventually took on human flesh and became a real human male, in the miracle of Christmas - the incarnation - while still being God, in order to rescue us sinful human beings.

John gives us very little information on just how Christmas happened - how God the Son became man - and he does not explain a lot about why Christmas had to happen as it did. Today we will look at other Scriptures scattered through the Old and New Testament which help us understand more about the "why." Then we will get into the details of the real Christmas story itself as told us by God, through Matthew and Luke, in coming weeks. We will go through a lot of short Bible passages. Look up as many as you can, as we go along.

Look first at Romans 9:4-5. Paul speaks of his own fellow Israelites. “From their own (Jewish) race, according to the flesh, the Christ (the promised Messiah) who is God over all” would come, Paul says. He is thinking, for example, of the key Scripture, when God called Abram (later called Abraham) and promised, “In your seed (a particular offspring) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” This is said in Genesis 12:3 and repeated in Genesis 22:18 and 28:14. A particular Jewish man would come from the line of Abraham, who would be a blessing to everyone in the world.

Paul also adds that this real man would also be “God over all," just as we heard John say last week. In Galatians 3:7-9,13-14, Paul quotes this Genesis prophecy and applies it directly to Jesus, who would bring these blessings to Gentiles (non-Jews), too, by being hung on the tree of the cross, as “a curse for us," in our place. Think about it. How could Jesus “redeem” the world in this way, unless He was a real Jewish man, who had a body that could be hung on the cross and die?

(We could spend weeks and weeks just looking at many prophecies of the coming Savior, but do not have time in this study to do that. We will focus on just a few this week, related to the New Testament Scriptures I’ll mention, and we will look at more that are specifically referred to when we get into Matthew and Luke.)

Go back then to Romans 5:12, where Paul reminds us of Genesis 3, where “sin came into the world through one man,” Adam, and his wife, Eve, “and death through sin," and then, as the Old Testament goes on, “death spread to all men because all sinned.” (See Genesis 6:5 and Psalm 14:1-3 and Romans 6:23, for example.) The first Adam was created perfect and yet failed miserably and brought sin and death into all the world. He is then called, in Romans 5:14, “a type of the One who was to come."

A second Adam had to come, a real man like Adam, but who would live perfectly and not sin, even when great temptations continually came to Him. See Romans 5:19. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” That “one man," the new Adam, is clearly identified in v. 21 as Jesus, who brings people to eternal life through what He came to do.

Jesus clearly knew that a key part of his work was to live a perfect life in our place, for our benefit, since we all fail to do so. See the words of Jesus at His baptism in Matthew 3:14-15. He had no sin and did not need baptism for Himself. Yet it was fitting for Him to be baptized to fulfill all righteousness, to do everything the right way, for our sake.

Jesus also had to die in our place, to pay the penalty for our sins, by all that happened to Him in His suffering and death, for our sake. See Acts 2:23-24, where we hear: “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up.” This was the plan of the Triune God for the rescue of sinful people in this world. The Father would send His Son. The Son would come willingly, as we will hear. He would give up His heavenly glory and come humbly, conceived and born of the Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and do His saving work. So, God the Son, Jesus, came.

See how this is put so simply in other places in the New Testament:

• In Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
• In Philippians 2:5-9: “Christ Jesus, who though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him.”
• In 1 Timothy 3:16: “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of Godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.”
• In Hebrews 2:9: “We see Him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor, because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone”
• In Hebrews 2:14-18: (This is a very important passage for the “why” of the incarnation - the coming of God the Son as true man, a real human being.) “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore He had to be made like His brothers in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest, in the service of God, to make propitiation (a sacrificial offering of Himself) for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, (without sin - Hebrews 4:15) He is able to help those who are being tempted.”
• In Hebrews 10:5,7,10: (This passage clearly tells us that God the Son totally agreed with the saving plan and knew what would finally happen.) “When Christ came into the world, He said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but a body have You prepared for Me’… Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book’…. And by that will we have been sanctified (set apart and counted as holy) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

As a summary of all this, you might look at Colossians 1:16-23, where the creation and preservation of all things by God the Son is described and that “in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.” Yet for our sake, He came into this world, “making peace, by the blood of His cross.” And Paul tells us, “you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if you continue in the faith… “

One more question. Could not God have just created another perfect man, just like Adam, to do the saving work? Did he really have to send His Son, His Only Son, to become man for us and be our Savior? Read these words from Psalm 49:7-9: “Truly, no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.” No human being alone can save himself and, especially, anyone else. That is why Psalm 49 goes on to say, “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me” (Psalm 49:15).

Only God’s Son could fit with the saving plan. He could and did become a real man who would do perfectly what Adam and each of us ought to do, but do not do. And though He often did not use His Godly power while on earth, Jesus was God and could make a sacrifice great enough to pay for the sins, not just of one more person, but of the whole world, including you and me. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 says that Jesus “gave Himself as a ransom for all.”

Next week we will talk a little more about Jesus as our “substitute” and then get into the Christmas story in Luke and Matthew. We will see the same ideas emphasized that we have already heard from other parts of the Bible.

Sermon for the 1st Sunday in Advent - November 28, 2021

Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent, based on:

Jeremiah 33:14-16

1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 

Luke 21:25-36

Sermon originally delivered December 2, 2012

Preparing for Worship - November 28, 2021

This Sunday is the First Sunday in Advent and the beginning of a whole new church year. The word “advent” comes from a Latin word meaning “coming to.” We spend four weeks thinking about various “comings” of Jesus: prophecies of His coming, His coming at Christmas, His coming to us personally as we are brought to trust in Him and are strengthened in our faith and belief, and His coming again on the last day to bring us eternal joy. Watch for readings that focus on these “comings” on Sunday and in the weeks ahead.

The Old Testament lesson is from Jeremiah 33:14-16 and is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus, Who would be a “Righteous Branch” coming from the line of King David. We are sinners, but Jesus would be the Lord, coming to us to be “our Righteousness” and to bring us salvation and security for our future.

The Psalm is Psalm 25:1-10. King David admits that he has strayed from God’s way and path. He prays that the Lord would not remember his sins, but remember His own mercy and steadfast love for people, including him. David will humbly wait for the Lord to teach him and lead him in His truth.

The Epistle is from 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13. Paul gives thanksgiving to God for the believers in Thessalonica and prays that they will grow in love and be established in the “holiness” that is theirs through faith in Jesus and His Righteousness. They will then be ready for the coming again of Jesus on the last day. 

There are two choices for the Gospel reading. One is Luke 19:28-40, where Jesus humbly comes into Jerusalem, riding on a young donkey and heading to the cross, later that week. Religious leaders want people to be quiet, but many still say, “Blessed is the King Who comes in the name of the Lord.” That is who Jesus really is - our servant King and Savior.

The alternate Gospel reading is from Luke 21:25-36. Jesus speaks of His visible return to earth in glory on the last day. Believers who “stay awake” in faith in Him will raise their heads in joy, for their Redeemer is drawing near. Unbelievers will have fear and foreboding because they are unprepared and their day of judgment is coming near.

Bible Study - The Christmas Story Part 2 - John 1:1-18

Last week, we talked about the tendency in our world to focus on so many other things than the true Christmas story in these weeks before Christmas. Entertaining music and heartwarming stories and gift-giving, etc., are not bad things, but we need to be sure to hear the Christmas story from the Scriptures, above all. There is our real hope and joy, in the coming of Christ.

We began with the Gospel of Mark, which tells us that the really Good News is in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but then takes us directly to the grown-up Jesus, beginning His public ministry, along with John the Baptist. Mark, as God inspired him, did give some insight into what is sometimes called the “holy family.” Jesus was without sin, but the other family members had trouble accepting what Jesus was doing and trusting in Him. Clearly, some did not believe in Him, but later on they are listed as His followers, after His resurrection. Mark likely did not include the stories of the birth and early years of Jesus, since the Gospels of Matthew and Luke were already written, and God did not lead him to repeat all these.

John’s Gospel was likely the last of the four Gospels to be written, and probably for the same reason as with Mark, God chose to have him start with the adult Jesus and John the Baptist. John does have a “prologue” of 18 verses, though, (John 1:1-18) in which he makes several very important points.

First, God the Son had already existed from all eternity. See John 1:1-4. He is called “the Word” and was God and was with God, even before the creation. He was with the Father and the Holy Spirit and was involved in the creation of all things “in the beginning," as Genesis describes. “In Him was life,” new and eternal life, too. John uses the word “life” 36 times in his Gospel. See John 5:24-26 and 10:27-30 and 14:6, for example. His life and His Word would bring “the light” to the people of this world, living in darkness. (See passages like Psalm 119:105 and 130; Psalm 36:9; John 8:12; and Proverbs 6:23. Notice how light and life and the Word go together, especially in Jesus. See also John 12:35-37.)

Sadly, the forces of darkness would not understand and would oppose Jesus, finally sending Him to the cross, but they would not overcome Him. John the Baptist would also come, sent by God as a “witness” for Jesus and His “Light,” but he too would be rejected. Jesus would make available “the true Light” for everyone, as he came into the world. Yet the sinful world “did not know Him” and “His own people did not receive Him,” including His own family at times, though He was their Creator (John 1:5-11).

Some would “receive” Jesus, though, and become “children of God,” “born” into a new life of faith and belief, not by their own power and choice and will but by the grace of God, in Christ Jesus. That would not happen, though, unless “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” in this world, as a real human being, along with being “the only Son from the Father.” He would be “full of grace and truth” as He dwelt (literally, “tented”) among us. As God showed His glory in the Old Testament tent, the Tabernacle (see Exodus 40:34-38), so Jesus would show the glory of God through His life and ministry and Word and even His suffering and death (John 1:12-14). (See John 12:27-33 and Paul’s words about living in our own “tent," our body, in 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.)

John 4:24 tells us that God is a Spirit. Yet for God the Son to do His saving work for us, He had to became a real man and take on flesh and blood, as well as being true God. The Latin word for “flesh” is “carnis." One who eats meat is called a carnivore. So, the “incarnation” is the event of God the Son taking on human flesh, as He was conceived and born as a real baby boy, born of the Virgin Mary, by the power and miracle of the Holy Spirit. That is what actually happened in the true Christmas Story, as we shall see in weeks ahead. We will learn more about why it had to happen, too.

In John 1:15-18, we hear that John the Baptist witnessed about Jesus that Jesus existed before him, though John was actually born first. God the Son was God, at the Father’s side, and had existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the one true God, from all eternity, before becoming a man, Who could make God known and bring us “grace upon grace” in His “grace and truth” for us, that would save us. He had always existed, but now He came also in the flesh, for our good. Notice how many other passage in John’s Gospel make these same points. Though we cannot explain it, God the Son became man in Jesus Christ and was sent from the Father to do just this. See John 3:16-17, 5:23-25, 8:23-24, 8:49-58, 17:4-5, and 18:33-37, for example. In the last passage, Jesus tells Pontius Pilate, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to beat witness to the truth.”

Finally, see 1 John 4:9, where John says, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him.”

John also summarizes the main purpose for writing his Gospel, as God inspired him to do, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). That is why John uses the words “witness” and “testify” many times in his Gospel, and uses the verb “believe” 98 times! The Lord really wants us and all others to come to faith, above all.

We will hear more about all this and the purpose of the incarnation of Jesus next week.