We want to see Jesus by Pastor Zarling

We want to see Jesus

John 12:20-33 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Festival. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22Philip went to tell Andrew. Andrew came with Philip and told Jesus.

23Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it continues to be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain. 25Anyone who loves his life destroys it. And the one who hates his life in this world will hold on to it for eternal life. 26If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

27“Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, this is the reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!”

A voice came from heaven: “I have glorified my name, and I will glorify it again.”

29The crowd standing there heard it and said it thundered. Others said an angel talked to him. 30Jesus answered, “This voice was not for my sake but for yours.

31“Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33He said this to indicate what kind of death he was going to die.

The Lord promises, “Do not be afraid, because I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). Amen.

Last week, four Shoreland seniors – Abigail, Belle, Kaliska, and Tayven – their orchestra teacher, Ms. Lawson, Shelley, and I were on a mission trip to Hood River and The Dalles, Oregon.

The week before we arrived, Pastor Lawson and members of Concordia and Bethany Lutheran Churches placed flyers on one thousand homes to let them know we would be coming on certain dates to collect food for the local food pantry.

We divided into teams of two to knock on doors. After we introduced ourselves, we told people we were from the church collecting food. Then we asked, “What advice would you give a church who is trying to reach out into the neighborhood.” We received lots of great responses. Most people said, “This! What you’re doing right here in collecting food.” Others said, “People are lonely so more community involvement would be great.” “Host events for the community in a park or at the church.”

We asked people a follow-up question. “What do you think people want to see and hear in a church?” One lady answered that question, “I want Jesus to be like me. A Jesus who smokes weed.” (We were near Portland, after all.)

What this lady said was no different from how most people view God or talk about Jesus. Instead of worshiping the Creator, they create their own kind of god. Instead of believing in Jesus as their Savior from sin, they create a make-believe Jesus who is accepting of sin.

Non-Christians do this all the time. Sadly, even we Christians do this, too. We can learn a lesson today from the Greeks who approached Philip saying, “We want to see Jesus” (John 12:21). Then Jesus tells the crowd about the kind of death he was going to die (John 12:33). This is important because we want to see the real Jesus, not our made-up versions of him.

Jerusalem was packed with out-of-towners for the Passover Festival. Jesus had just entered the city on a donkey and was greeted as a triumphant king to the shouts of “Hosanna.” Then he had gone into the temple to worship, but discovered the chaos caused by all the sacrificial animals

being sold and the money being exchanged in the temple courtyard area, so he chased away the animals and overturned the moneychangers’ tables.

Some Greeks, either Jews who lived in Greece or Greek converts to Judaism, were in town for the Passover celebration. They had heard about this Jesus who performed miracles and taught with authority, and they wanted to meet him. And now, after everything that happened on that Palm Sunday, they really wanted to meet him. So, these Greeks find the disciple with the Greek name, Philip, and request, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” Philip isn’t sure what to do, so he goes to Andrew, and the two of them go to Jesus.

Jesus gives what at first appears to be a strange answer. He doesn’t say anything about setting up an appointment. Instead, he says, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). In other words, Jesus tells them that the time has come for him to be lifted upon the cross, just as Moses had lifted up a bronze serpent in the wilderness. This will be the hour of Jesus’ greatest glory. For Jesus did not come into the world to be the object of attention, a handshaking politician, or a smiling celebrity. He came to be the Savior who will bear our sins in his body, dying to give us life.

It is this Jesus we need to see. It was this Jesus that the Greeks came hundreds of miles to see. They left their homes to travel to the temple in Jerusalem to offer up their sacrificial animals at the Passover.

Another lady we met during our canvassing said that churches should be less confrontational and more like Jesus. He was never judgmental.

This is a common refrain from unbelievers. They’ll say that Jesus hung out with prostitutes and drunkards. He didn’t judge people. Those who make these claims conveniently ignore that Jesus met a woman caught in adultery. Then he told her, “Leave your life of sin” (John 8:11). He met tax collectors and sinners. But then he told them, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Matthew 4:17). Jesus didn’t “hang out” with drunkards and prostitutes. He ministered to them. Afterwards, by God’s grace, they weren’t prostitutes and drunkards anymore. Jesus came to transform people, not indulge them.

Jesus did not come to be accepting, be our buddy, or smoke weed. He came to call us to repentance. To bring us out of our life of sin. To suffer and die to pay the price for our sin. So that we might believe and be saved.

Even as Christians we fall into the trap of creating our own gods by loving the wrong things and denying the right things. We adore the wrong things and defile the right things. We love sex and defile the marriage bed. We love a pleasurable life and deny life to children. We love a fun time and avoid our vocational responsibilities. We love money but not our neighbor. We hide in the shadows and love the darkness. We reject rebuke and covet flattery. We justify our sin and refuse our Savior. Because of our sinful nature, we don’t want to see Jesus. He’s going to ruin all the fun our inborn nature wants to have.

By God’s grace, Jesus sought us out when we were not seeking him. The Holy Spirit has called us to faith so we can be like these Greeks who now do want to see Jesus. But it is a dangerous thing to find Jesus, to follow Jesus.

Jesus used a farming illustration to teach us, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it continues to be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain” (John 12:24). The kernel of wheat is going to die and be buried. There is a harvest that’s coming. That harvest begins with Jesus. He is the firstfruits of the great harvest from the dead. Jesus must die and then

rise again. As Christians, those who believe and follow Jesus, we must die with Jesus to then rise at the great harvest.

Jesus continues, “Anyone who loves his life destroys it. And the one who hates his life in this world will hold on to it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. (John 12:25. 26).

When we are creating false gods of our own making, when we are loving the wrong things, when we are denying ourselves the right things, we lose the eternal things. Therefore, we must lose the wrong things, surrender our sins, give up the gods of our imagination, repent, and then receive eternal life.

This eternal life is a gift. This gift is free to those who believe, but it is not free from cost. Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). When Jesus rode into Jerusalem that Palm Sunday morning, he rode in as the Lamb of God. While those in Jerusalem were selecting their lambs for the Passover celebration on Thursday, Jesus would be laying down his life on the altar of the cross during the Passover. He was sacrificing himself for the sins of the world.

This is the real Jesus. He isn’t accepting of our sins. He’s suffering for our sins. He doesn’t hang out with prostitutes, tax collectors, and drunkards. He dies for these sinners. He doesn’t allow us to mold him into the kind of god we want. He enters the gates of Jerusalem on Sunday so he can die outside the city gates on Friday and then rise again on Sunday to be the God-Man we need.

The gift of eternal life is free to all who believe in the real Jesus. But we and everyone else need to know that this gift was not free for Jesus. The gift is covered in blood – the divinely human blood of the God-Man – Jesus the Son of God the Father and the Son of Mary. This bloody gift gives eternal life to all who accept the real Jesus and believe in him as the Savior from their sin. Those who accept this eternal life then accept living this life for Jesus.

A life of living for Jesus means a life of repentance. That means loving the right things and hating the wrong things. There is such a thing as godly hate – hate for sin and death and the devil. Hate the things that lead you away from Christ, outside of his Church, and far from his voice. Hate your sin and repent. Sin separates, hurts, and harms us and our neighbors, and it grieves the Holy Spirit. Sin leads to death and eternal death if un-repented. So, love the right things and hate the wrong things. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and soul.

Jesus admitted, “Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, this is the reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27, 28)! Of course, Jesus’ heart is troubled. He knows the kind of death he was going to die (John 12:33). He also knew he would be glorifying his heavenly Father through this humiliating death. God the Father answered from heaven, “I have glorified my name, and I will glorify it again” (John 12:28).

Jesus then said, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32). The Romans weren’t the only people who used crucifixion as a punishment, but they perfected it. The Roman writer Cicero called it the most cruel and hideous of all tortures. Sometimes bodies would be left hanging on crosses for days so that everyone could see them rot. The Romans used crucifixion to force social conformity. The public display was meant to send a message: commit a crime, and the same thing could happen to you.

Jesus was no criminal and had done nothing wrong. But he was crucified publicly for everyone to see. There was no doubt that he was lifted up, nailed by his hands and his feet to a cross. There was no doubt that he died while hanging on a cross.

Jesus knew that was the kind of death he was going to die. But he didn’t mind it being public. In fact, he wanted everyone to know about it because his death was for everyone. Jesus took the punishment of death and hell for all people, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but will have eternal life.

Jesus draws all people to himself through faith without regard for nationality, ethnic affiliation, status, age, or gender. No matter what has happened in your life, no matter how good or bad it’s been, Jesus draws you to him. Jesus draws you to him whether you’ve been in the church your whole life or started coming today because someone recently invited you.

The Romans meant death on the cross to be shameful. But there’s no need for you to feel ashamed of Jesus Christ. He was lifted up so that you would be drawn to him as your Savior.

This is the real Jesus. By God’s grace, we want to keep on seeing this real Jesus. Amen.

The Lord promises, “You are precious and honored in my eyes, and I myself love you” (Isaiah 43:4). Amen.

How Much Should I Give? by Pastor Klusmeyer

Text: 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Lent 3B

SN: 0044 03/03/24

How Much Should I Give?

There is a joke in our household. If our kids have a question about history, literature, or religion homework, they ask me. If they have a question about math they go and ask Mom. Understanding math has never been one of my strong suits. I can do enough to get by, but it is definitely not one of my favorite things, especially algebra and geometry. In our lesson this morning the Apostle Paul gives us a relatively simple math formula for what Christian giving looks like. Paul writes, “On the first day of every week, each of you is to set something aside in keeping with whatever he gains.”

That seems simple and straightforward. Paul is talking about proportional giving. We are to set aside a portion of our income each week as an offering to the Lord. But that still leaves us with the question of how much should I give. By nature, we all have a little lawyer in us who wants to know what the amount we need to give is to make God happy with us. We’re entering tax season right now and might wonder if is Paul talking about a portion of my net income or my gross income. But that’s not what Paul means at all. Paul is encouraging each of us to make up our own minds on how much we want to give to God. As Christians, we know that everything we have in life is a gift from God. We know that God asks us to be faithful stewards with those gifts and use a portion of them to support the work of his church.

In the Old Testament God was clear. He commanded his people to offer 10 percent of their income to support the work of the temple and his priests. As Christians, we are no longer bound by the law of tithing because Christ has fulfilled all the requirements of the law for us. We are free to bring whatever gifts we choose to the Lord. The purpose of these 10 for 10 stewardship Sundays is not to mandate that everyone in the congregation must give 10 percent of their income for 10 weeks. That would be placing our consciences back under the burden of the law. They are meant to encourage us to think about our giving habits. Tithing is one way we can give and it can be a beneficial blessing in our lives, but it is not required by God. We are free to give as we determine. This is why Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:7, “Each one should give as he has determined in his heart, not reluctantly or under pressure, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

In 1 Corinthians Paul talks about proportional giving. Proportional giving is going to look different for different people. It is also going to look different at different times in our lives. There will be times when we are greatly blessed by the Lord and can give generously. There are going to be times when we face times of trial and hardship. We may have numerous financial burdens like medical bills or raising a family. During those times we may not be able to give as much. We may need to reduce the portion of income that we give to the Lord for a time so that we can care for and support our families. This is good and God-pleasing. God has called us both to use our gifts to serve his church, and he has called us to our vocations as husband, wife, mother, or father. God has called us to serve him in a variety of different ways with a variety of different gifts. The purpose of these stewardship Sundays is to allow us to evaluate our giving and see if we are using the gifts God has given us to his glory.

In the Luther quote I shared on the last page of the service folder this morning Martin Luther gives us some good advice on the relationship between contentment and giving. He echoes the words of Paul from 1 Corinthians that we should give out of the abundance of what we have. God does not want us to give in a way that causes us to be a burden to others or financially burdens our family. We are to give out of our abundance. But Luther also cautions us not to think about our abundance as the world does. Luther urges us to be satisfied with our daily bread and not seek to have more. I think that sometimes when we hear that we should be satisfied with our daily bread this means that we should be content to survive on the bare minimum to keep us alive. In his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer

Luther says, “Daily bread includes everything that we need for our bodily welfare, such as food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home, land and cattle, money and goods, a godly spouse, godly children, godly workers, godly and faithful leaders, good government, good weather, peace and order, health, a good name, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”

As we think about that list of everything that is included in our “daily bread,” we realize that we have indeed been greatly blessed by the Lord. As we consider all the blessings, he has given us it is good to occasionally evaluate how well we are being stewards of those blessings. If we are honest, we must admit that we aren’t always good stewards of the gifts we have been given. We spend too much time pursuing leisure activities. We spend more time interacting with screens than we do with our own families. We foolishly believe that our money and possessions will bring us happiness. We are not content with the abundance of blessings that the Lord has given us and listen to the foolish message of the world that we need to find joy in having the next newest thing. Because of this discontentment, we are reluctant to set aside a portion of our income for the service of the Lord. We take care of our own needs first and give God whatever is left over.

Dear friends, this is something we all struggle with. None of us, including me are perfectly faithful stewards of the abundant blessings God has showered on us. None of us is perfectly thankful for all that God has done. We have all fallen far short of giving God the glory that he is due. No amount of offerings and no amount of tithing can ever make up for the sins that we have committed. We cannot earn God’s favor on our own. We needed a Savior.

Jesus is more than just an example of how to live a generous life. He is our perfect substitute. As we heard in our Gospel lesson this morning Jesus was filled with perfect zeal for the Lord’s house. He supported the work of the Lord every moment of his life. He helped the poor and needy. He showed compassion for the oppressed and the destitute. He showed perfect love to all people. He did this because he did what we could not. He was able to perfectly keep all of God’s commands. As we heard the 10 Commandments this morning, we know that Christ kept all of them perfectly for us.

Think of the perfect generosity of our Lord. He gave up the perfection and splendor of heaven to be clothed in human flesh and make his dwelling among us. He willingly lived in humility so that he could help and serve others. He willingly offered his perfect life as a sacrifice to pay for the sins of the entire world. He died so that we might live.

All this Christ did so that he could give you a gift that is far more valuable than gold or silver, emeralds, or rubies. Christ has given to you the forgiveness of sins. He has given you the right to be called children of God. By his resurrection, he has given the eternal riches of heaven that are not even worth comparing to the riches of this world that will be destroyed on the last day. All of this Christ gives to you as a free and gracious gift that is ours by faith.

In thankfulness for all that our Lord has done for us, we serve him joyfully with our time, talents, and treasures. Because we have been freed from the burden of the law by Christ, we are free to choose what we offer to the Lord in thankfulness. Paul and Luther both suggest giving out of the abundance we have after seeing our daily needs. This is going to change at different times and circumstances in our lives. Sometimes we will be able to joyfully give the Lord 10 percent of our income, sometimes we may be able to give far more than that. At other times we may not have that much to give to the Lord.

There may be times when we need to rely on the generosity of others just to get by. This is the blessing that we have in the fellowship of the church. God blesses us in different ways in our lives. Sometimes we have the blessing of being able to use our wealth to help others and sometimes we are a blessing by being the opportunity for someone else to serve. Dear friends God wants us to serve him faithfully in whatever circumstances we may be in. Sometimes this means being able to generously

support the work of the church, other times it means earning enough to provide the daily bread for your family.

My theme for this sermon was “How much should I give,” because I think this is a question that we want a short easy answer to. However, it is not an easy answer. God wants us to give in a way that is proportionate to how we have been blessed. Have we been blessed much, then let us give much. Have we been blessed with little, then let us give what we can and know that we are not doing wrong by making sure that we have enough for our daily bread. God blesses us in different ways at different times of our lives. Each one of us is different and unique. So let us serve the Lord with gladness and use all that we have to his glory. Amen.

We Pledge to Bring the Firstfruits by Pastor Zarling

We Pledge to Bring the Firstfruits

Nehemiah 10:35-39 We pledge to bring the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every kind of fruit tree to the house of our God for ourselves. 36We also will bring the firstborn of our sons and our animals, as is written in the Law, and we will bring the firstborn of our cattle and flocks to the house of our God for the priests who serve in the house of our God, 37and we will bring the first of our dough and our contributions and the fruit of every tree. We will bring new wine and olive oil to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God, and we will bring the tithe from our land to the Levites. It is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the cities where we work. 38A priest, a descendant of Aaron, will be with the Levites when the Levites collect the tithes. The Levites will bring a tenth of the tithes up to the house of our God, to the chambers of the treasury, 39because the Israelites and the sons of Levi are to bring the contribution from the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are kept, where the priests, the gatekeepers, and the singers serve. In this way we will not abandon the house of our God.

Jesus challenges, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Amen.

The nation of Israel had pledged numerous times throughout their history to be faithful to the one true God. They broke their pledge numerous times and worshiped false gods.

To discipline his unfaithful children, God allowed the nation of Israel to be captured by the Babylonian Empire. They were taken from their homeland and forced to live in exile for 70 years in Babylon.

After the Medo-Persian Empire defeated the Babylonian Empire, King Cyrus – the Persian King – allowed Ezra to return with exiles to Israel to rebuild the temple in 457 BC. Nehemiah was allowed to return to Israel with more exiles twelve years later to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which had been in ruins for over one hundred years. Nehemiah joined with Ezra in the more important spiritual rebuilding of Israel.

The work of rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls and the rebuilding of the temple was tough … but now everything was finished. As part of the rededication of the wall and the temple, the people gathered together. Listen to what they said. “We pledge to bring the firstfruits of our land and the firstfruits of every kind of fruit tree to the house of our God for ourselves. We also will bring the firstborn of our sons and our animals, as is written in the Law, and we will bring the firstborn of our cattle and flocks to the house of our God for the priests who serve in the house of our God, and we will bring the first of our dough and our contributions and the fruit of every tree. We will bring new wine and olive oil to the priests, to the storerooms of the house of our God, and we will bring the tithe from our land to the Levites” (Nehemiah 10:35-37a).

The people of Israel want to fulfill Solomon’s wise proverbial words, “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits from your entire harvest. Then your barns will be filled to capacity, and your wine vats will overflow with fresh wine” (Proverbs 3:9, 10). They pledged to God the firstfruits of their vegetables, fruit, grain, wine, oil, bread, herds, cattle, and even the firstborn of their sons. They pledged to give God the firstfruits of basically everything.

Firstfruits are the first of your harvest or the best of your flock. If you grow tomatoes, peppers, or snap peas in your garden, you pick the first of your harvest and give that to God trusting you’ll

receive more tomatoes, peppers, and snap peas later. You God the first and best. Then you live on the leftovers.

But what do we often do? We keep the best for ourselves. Then we give God the leftovers. We earn our income and then use it to pay bills, put gas in our vehicle, buy groceries, and spend some on entertainment. After we have taken care of ourselves, then we decide what we want to give to God in our offerings.

Do you see how backward that is?!

The children of Israel tried that during the time of Malachi – who is around the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. Listen to what God says about their backwards giving practices. “When you bring a blind animal as a sacrifice, isn’t that evil? When you bring something lame and sick, isn’t that evil? Try bringing that to your governor. Would he be pleased with you? Would he receive you with favor? This is what the LORD of Armies says” (Malachi 1:8).

The people are bringing God the second-bests and leftovers – the blind, the sick, and lame animals. And God is ticked! He asks if their governor would be pleased with those kinds of sick sacrifices. Yet they tried with their God. He calls it “evil.”

These are strong words. Strong words meant not only for the children of Israel in the Old Testament. Strong words also for us today in the Christian Church in 2024. God is ticked when we cheat him out of the first and best! He is the God of the Universe. Our Creator. Redeemer. Sanctifier. King of kings. Lord of lords. He doesn’t deserve leftovers. He doesn’t desire second-bests.

Do you get the point? When you set aside your firstfruits for God – your first and best – and live on the rest, two things happen. First, you show God that he really is number one in your life, worthy of more than the occasional leftover, but worthy of top billing. Second, you can expect that a delighted God who receives blessing from you will bless you in return with physical and spiritual blessing. He promises that later in Malachi. “Bring the complete tithe to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house. Just test me in this, says the LORD of Armies. See whether I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour down blessing on you, until there is more than enough” (Malachi 3:10).

The people of Israel made a pledge that day. They made a commitment to bring God their firstfruits.

It’s OK for us as Christians to make pledges, too. We pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. We pledge in our confirmation vows to be faithful even to the point of death rather than fall away from our Christian faith. We can make a pledge to give God our best and live off the rest.

The people of Israel also pledged to support their church. They knew one of the reasons they were commanded to give was so their church – their temple, priests, and Levites – would be provided for. They pledged to no longer neglect the house of God. “In this way we will not abandon the house of our God” (Nehemiah 10:39b).

There are a lot of ways to destroy something. Do you know one of the easiest ways? Neglect it. How do you destroy a garden that was once productive and thriving? What do you do? Nothing! Just neglect it. Don’t water it. Don’t fertilize it. Just let the weeds take over.

How do you destroy a car? How can you ruin it? Do nothing! Just neglect it. Don’t change the oil. Don’t replace the filters. Don’t wash off the salt or dirt.

What about a church? How does a once growing and thriving church die? The same way. God’s people neglect it. They don’t pray for it. Aren’t involved in its ministries. Don’t worship in it. Don’t invite others to worship in it. Don’t financially support it. Over time it will happen. It happens to about 4500 churches annually in America.

The paint fades. The wood cracks. The people age and die. There aren’t new members, babies, or baptisms. The pews are empty. The people in the community wonder, “What happened over there? It used to be a great church. What did they do?” The answer will be … nothing. They didn’t do anything.

The people in Nehemiah’s time decided they had been down that road before and didn’t want to do it again. So they made a pledge, “We will not let this happen again.” They each made a commitment saying, “I will not neglect the house of God.”

In these 10 for 10 sermons, Bible studies, and cottage meetings, we are challenging you. We want each of you to make a pledge to God saying, “I will not neglect Water of Life. I will support my church with my offerings.” This pledge will be private between you and the Lord of the Church. But we want you to hear God’s challenge and then accept that challenge. Hear God’s Word. Discuss it at home. Pray about it. Then make your pledge to God.

Years ago, in the time between the World Wars, there was a very special Christian school in England.

Staffed by teachers from around the world, the students were blessed to find out how others lived. One year an instructor shared his experiences when he worked in India as a private tutor. The children were especially moved when they heard about the children who were part of India’s “untouchable” caste. The children decided to reach out to those untouchables at Christmastime.

The English children gave brand new toys to the Indian children. Dolls for the girls in the village. The boys received boy toys. The giving and receiving of the gifts pleased both groups of children.

Then one year a medical missionary helped distribute the gifts in the Indian village. He told the children about another place where the boys and girls had never heard about Jesus or the salvation he won for the world. The doctor suggested that maybe the untouchable children would like to give them some of their old toys. That would give him, he explained, the opportunity to talk about God's great gift of Jesus.

The children liked the idea.

A week later the doctor returned to collect the gifts. He was shocked by what happened. One by one the children filed by and gave the doctor a doll or toy. Amazingly, the children gave their new toys, not the old ones. When the doctor asked, “Why?” a little girl spoke for the rest when she said, “Doctor, think what Jesus did for us. He gave us his best. Can we do anything less?”

The girl had it right. Jesus always gave his best.

Jesus left the mansions of heaven to be born in a barn. Throughout his ministry, the foxes had holes and the birds had nests, but the Son of Man had no place to lay his head. Jesus was tempted

by Satan to cut corners. He was tempted by his good friend, Peter not to go to the cross. Jesus declined all luxuries. He resisted all temptations. He always gave his best.

While we were still enemies, Jesus reconciled us with his holy, heavenly Father. Jesus justified us by his divinely human blood. He saved us from God’s divine wrath that we justly deserved (Romans 5:9, 10). While we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). The Son of God died to help us so we might become the sons and daughters of God. Jesus suffered hell so we might be given heaven. He reconciled us from God’s enemies so we might be claimed as God’s children. He drank every drop from the cup of his Father’s wrath so we might enjoy eating and drinking at the Father’s banquet feast.

Jesus always gave his best and in so doing won forgiveness and salvation for us. Now he challenges all those who have been saved to respond with a grateful heart.

And how will we respond? The answer is simple: we do what Jesus did. He carried a cross for us. We carry a cross for him. He gave us his best. We give him our best. He is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20). That means he is the first and best of the resurrection. The rest of the harvest of the resurrection will follow on the Last Day. He is the firstfruits, so we pledge to give him our firstfruits. Amen.

Jesus challenges, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:35). Amen.

Wait for God’s therapeutic Work by Pastor Laitinen

Wait for God’s therapeutic Work.

I Peter 5, 6-11

It gets ugly when people try to overthrow government. David saw this with his son Absalom. Absalom rallied an army against David. As they marched toward Jerusalem, David and his officials evacuated the city.

They marched east toward the wilderness. Many citizens supported them. But one man named Shimei stood on a ridge along the road and showered rocks and dirt on David’s entourage. Shimei basically said, “Yeah, you’d better run! You’re getting what you deserve, David.” One of David’s nobles asked permission to go kill Shimei. David said no: Perhaps the LORD will look on my misery and will return something good to me in exchange for his cursing this day.

You’ve been there. Maybe you’ve felt strained relations with a child like David did. Maybe it sounds like you to think of David questioning his career choice. Perhaps you can relate to David seeing his authority get undermined or public humiliation or even feeling rejected by God?

All of that and more, we call anxiety. Today’s epistle offered the solution for anxiety. Peter wrote: “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”

Simon Peter knew about anxiety and casting it on God. Today’s Gospel said: “They left the synagogue and went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever. Without delay they told Jesus about her.” Simon Peter knew about stress. He was married. Marriage is wonderful, but it takes lots of work. It’s worth it, but it’s also stressful.

Plus, Peter had a sick mother-in-law. Do you know that powerless feeling when you have a sick loved-one? Or perhaps he had secret feelings of resentment. This sick woman took up his and his wife’s time. He could’ve also carried guilt about those resentful feelings.

That same Peter later wrote this letter, which said: “Cast all your anxiety on him.” Peter could’ve known anxiety from sitting in prison, from swinging a sword in the olive grove, from watching Jesus sleep in a boat during a storm, or from thinking he saw a ghost when Jesus walked on the water. But maybe Peter wrote: “Cast all your anxiety on him” while thinking about the time his mother-in-law was sick.

It said, “Without delay they told Jesus about her.” Peter showed how to cast anxiety on God. If you want that too, then without delay: tell Jesus about your stress. Yes, he already knows it. But what happened when Peter approached Jesus? “He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them.”

Peter’s mother-in-law hardly sounds like a manipulative old nag. She took care of people. Peter could say: “God cares for me. He gave me this wonderful family. I threw my anguish on him and he fixed it.”

I get to teach Shoreland students this letter from Peter. Talking through it with them has helped me better understand what it means to: Cast all your anxiety on him. I illustrate that in class by holding up my briefcase. I ask them to imagine their backpacks the same way. Each of you could picture your own version of a book bag, some item for organizing your life; a cluttered desk, a smart phone, a marker board calendar in your kitchen. Whatever your item, it should represent all your work; appointments, projects, people contacting you.

For me, it’s that briefcase I hold up in class. Then, I do my best impression of a track-and-field discus thrower and chuck it to the opposite side of the room. That’s what God asks you to do with all your stress in life.

Now one sharp young lady this year asked: “So, God’s asking us to throw away our homework?” That’s an important item in their backpacks and a major source of stress for them. You might say the same about all your appointments or your inbox or voicemail messages. You could reduce anxiety by ignoring tasks, right?

Notice that Peter writes: “Cast all your anxiety on him.” He does not say: Cast all your responsibility or all your efforts on him. What’s the difference? There’s a mental place that humans like to go where our brains are active, but they aren’t creating anything or solving any problem. Let’s call it the “ruminating space.”

It works like this: Pretend your family has regular reunions at a campsite on a lake up north. Everyone pitches in to pay expenses. But, for several years, a few people keep suggesting everyone meet at a resort in the Dells. It’s not in your price range. You’re going to see one of those relatives at Thanksgiving. On top of all the other stress during the holidays, you start thinking about that family member pressuring you to get on board with the Dells resort plan. That’s a ruminating space. Your brain isn’t working on solutions for handling that discussion. It’s stuck in a negative loop surrounding something you can’t control, someone else’s comments.

When Peter talks about “anxiety,” he doesn’t mean your adrenaline when your car slides on an icy road. “Cast all your anxiety on him” doesn’t mean: suppress your emotions if your child goes missing and you need to call the police. Casting off anxiety does not mean avoiding work because it’s less stressful to let other people do it. Cast all your anxiety on him means: kick yourself out of that ruminating space. Slam the door on thoughts that you can take no action on. Slap down mental problems that no one asked you to solve.

Wouldn’t you admit: it’s pretty arrogant of you to think it’s your job to fix your passive-aggressive in-laws? It’s thinking way too much of yourself to imagine you can stop every bigot from being racist. I’d have an overinflated opinion of myself, if I think it depends on me to stop all election fraud or expose corrupt media or to undo the downfall of the environment? Peter wrote in verse six. “Therefore humble yourselves under God’s powerful hand so that he may lift you up at the appointed time.”

If you want to cast anxiety on God, first recognize your own limitations. “Humble yourselves” does not mean degrade yourself. When I talk bad about myself, I’m still discussing my favorite topic: “me.” Degrading yourself is not humility. Humility means you think more about other people instead of yourself.

Another student this year made a great comment about that. He said: So, humility means thinking more about other people and that’s also how I cast off my anxiety; but what if my anxiety already comes from thinking about other people? What if I’m already too worried about their reactions or what they might say?

When Peter said “humble yourselves,” he did not mean: imagine how others might evaluate you. He meant: imagine what life is like for that person. Try walking in their shoes. Take an educated guess about how that person feels right now.

A funny thing happens when you do this. Let’s try it here. Think of two or three things that stress you out most. Now, take a good look around the room, even behind you and across the aisle. Pick one face that you saw and guess what kinds of things might be on that person’s stress list. Maybe you could ask the person if you guessed right or ask what their anxiety is or even try just doing something nice for that person based on your guess. That probably didn’t make your list go away, but it took you out of your ruminating space while you considered the worries of that other person. Humbling yourself actually lightened your anxiety load.

This is what God wants for us. Grace means you do less work, not more. Jesus already did the hardest job of redeeming you. Even with suffering on this earth, God promises it won’t last forever. You don’t have to save

yourself by your suffering. And, if bad things happen to you, he promises to fix and reinforce you better than before. Jesus promised this most vividly by rising from the dead. He guarantees, even if your body dies, he will put it back together on the last day in the new creation. Peter wrote: “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you. To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”

Absolute Authority by Pastor Klusmeyer

Text: Mark 1:21-28 Epiphany 4B

SN: 0041 01/28/24

Absolute Authority

Authority. We’re not always fans of that word, especially when it is connected to the word absolute. We have an innate suspicion of those who have or seek to have absolute authority. Books and movies are filled with villains seeking absolute authority: Thanos, Lex Luthar, and the Emperor from Star Wars as just a few examples. On the other hand, our culture holds up as heroes those who challenged what they saw as absolute and abusive authority. Think of John Hancock writing his name as large as he could on the Declaration of Independence as a direct challenge to the authority of King George, Nathan Hale courageously declaring that his only regret was that he had but one life to give for his country, or King Leonidas and his 300 brave Spartans challenging the absolute authority of King Xerxes.

We don’t like the idea of being told what to do, especially if we have absolutely no say in the matter. We have a natural tendency to resist despotic authority. We value our freedom and want to be able to make our own choices. This attitude translates into our spiritual life as well. Our sinful nature doesn’t like to be told what to do. It chafes under what it sees as the oppressive authority of God’s law. As Christians, we are engaged in a constant spiritual battle. There is a struggle between our new man who desires to willingly submit to God’s law and our old man who wants to rebel against God’s authority. Our enemy, Satan, is raging with all his might to destroy our faith and lead us away from God. Our Gospel lesson this morning reminds us that absolute authority has been given to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But unlike every human with authority, Christ uses his absolute authority only for our good. By his absolute authority, he has forgiven our sins and destroyed the power of death and hell.

The authority of Jesus is the same authority as God the Father. At the beginning of all things, God created the heavens and the earth. Because he is the creator of all things God has authority over all things. Everything that exists is subject to the will of God. At some point after creation, Satan challenged the authority of God and was cast out of heaven. Satan in his anger and rage then destroyed the perfect world that God created. He tempted Adam and Eve to sin and destroyed their relationship with God. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, all people are born spiritually dead and hostile to God. We view God as our enemy. Our sinful natures chafe under the absolute authority of God’s law. Just like when a parent tells a small child not to touch a hot stove and the first thought of the child is to touch that stove, so we too desire to do the things God tells us not to do.

But God demands absolute obedience to his will. Our sinful natures hate this. We do not want to be told what to do. We think we know better than God does. We don’t think it's fair that we should be condemned to eternal death because of the few small sins that we have committed. We want to challenge God’s absolute authority and determine for ourselves what’s right and wrong. We don’t want to listen when God says that it's wrong to neglect his word, it's wrong to have lustful thoughts about others, it's wrong to gossip and lie, or it's wrong to be selfish with the blessings we have been given. We want to be a law for ourselves. This is sinful rebellion. This is challenging God’s authority and putting our own authority in its place. Every time we sin, we are breaking the First Commandment and putting our desires in the place of God.

How foolish! How foolish to think that we could in any way challenge the power and authority of the Creator. This is the same foolishness we see from the demon in our Gospel lesson. Did the demon really think it could win a confrontation with the Son of God? Did Satan think that he could undermine the work of Christ by telling people who he was? The actions of the demon seem foolish and self-destructive. And yet isn’t that what all sin is? Sin harms our bodies and destroys our relationships with others. We know that sin is bad for us, and yet we find ourselves falling into the same sins again and again. We know that there will be consequences and yet we foolishly think that this time it will be different. Satan and our own sinful natures are constantly trying to lead us to sin.

Satan is a very real and powerful threat. His only goal is to destroy our souls and lead us away from God. On our own, we are powerless to defeat him, but thankfully we do not need to fight our ancient enemy. His power has been destroyed by the absolute power and authority of Christ. This is why the Son of God appeared: to destroy the works of the Devil.

This is the authority that we see on full display in our lesson. Mark the Evangelist does not tell us exactly what Jesus was preaching in the synagogue, but we can assume it’s the same message Mark records in verse 15, “The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Jesus was able to proclaim the message of the gospel with absolute authority because he was the Word of God incarnate. Christ had come to fulfill the promises of God and bring salvation. As true God Christ had absolute power and authority. He could have ruled over every nation on earth, and no one would have been able to stand against him. But that’s not how our Savior appeared. He came to serve, not to be served. He clothed himself with humility and placed himself under the requirement of God’s law for us.

Just think, Jesus did not need to go to the synagogue to hear the Word of God, he was the Word made flesh. But he went to keep God’s Word and honor the Sabbath Day. Jesus lived among sinners and shared with them the message of the Gospel. He was able to teach God’s Word with authority because his will was perfectly aligned with the will of the Father. When he was confronted by the demon-possessed man he used his authority to rebuke the demon. The demon was forced to flee because Jesus was the Son of God.

Jesus had the absolute power and authority of God, and yet what did he do with that authority? He willingly allowed himself to be tortured and nailed to a cross. He took the sins of the entire world upon himself and paid for them with his life. God died on the cross so that we might live. By his death and resurrection, he destroyed the power of Satan. By his absolute obedience, he freed us from our slavery to sin and restored our relationship with God. He suffered the torments of hell in our place. He paid for our sins with his life.

We receive the benefits of his death and resurrection through faith. We have been washed in the waters of baptism. We daily drown our sinful natures and cling to the promises of God. We repent of our sins and believe the gospel message of our Savior. We receive the forgiveness of sins as we taste of his body and blood. We no longer fear the power of the devil because we know that he has been defeated. We no longer fear the sting of death because we look forward to the resurrection and eternal life that has been won for us in Christ.

Dear friends, all of our sins of rebellion have been washed away with the blood of Christ. By Christ's absolute obedience, we have been made God’s dearly beloved children. As children of God, we willingly submit to the authority of our Lord. We don’t view the commands of our God as burdensome because we know that they are for our good. We are amazed by the message of the Gospel because we know our sins and continually marvel at the height and depth of width of God’s love for us.

As his people, we seek to proclaim his Word in its truth and purity. We dare not compromise God’s Word because it is his absolute truth and we do not have the authority to change a single word. As his people, we have been given his authority to proclaim his message of salvation to the world. We baptize and forgive sins in his name. We serve one another in love. We offer him the very best of our time, talents, and treasure. We spur one another to love and do good deeds. We work doing all things to the best of our ability because we seek to serve him first in everything we do.

Dear friends, we do not despise the absolute authority of Christ because we know that he is using that authority for our good. We have this promise from our Savior, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” Our Savior is with us. He has used his authority to destroy the power of the devil and free us from our sins. He uses his absolute authority to work all things out for the good of his church. On the last day, he will return with all his power, glory, and authority and he will take us to be with him to live in the eternal presence of his glory forever. Amen.

Called to Call Others by Pastor Zarling

Called to call others

Mark 1:14-20 After John was put in prison, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. 15“The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

16As Jesus was going along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. 17Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19Going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat mending the nets. 20Immediately Jesus called them. They left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

All these things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18) Amen.

John and Andrew took the day off from fishing with their brothers to go out into the wilderness to see this new preacher they had heard so much about. He was like the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament. He preached a fiery message of repentance and forgiveness. He also baptized a lot of people. John and Andrew became followers of John the Baptizer.

Then one day, John the Baptizer pointed to a man walking by and exclaimed, “Look! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Luke 1:29)! John and Andrew left John and began following Jesus. They were so excited about meeting Jesus that they had to tell their brothers. Andrew told Peter, “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41)! John told his brother James.

Jesus went to Galilee – the region in the north where these four men lived – preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. “The time is fulfilled,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near! Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus then went to meet Philip and Nathanael and called them to follow him. He took his new followers with him to a wedding in Cana where he changed water into wine. His new disciples saw him clear the temple courts during the Passover. He talked to Nicodemus, preached throughout the Judean countryside, and then preached in Samaria (John 1-4).

Peter and Andrew, James and John were Jesus’ part-time disciples. In that time, they had seen and heard a lot from Jesus before he walked up to them along the Sea of Galilee. They were busy mending and fishing with their nets. Jesus walked up to them and said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (John 1:17). Immediately both sets of brothers left their fishing businesses to follow Jesus full-time (John 1:18). The disciples followed Jesus for three years of on-the-job Seminary training. Jesus called them to call others.

Jesus called you to faith when the pastor poured God’s Word and water over your head at the baptismal font when you were an infant. Or Jesus called you to faith when you heard God’s Word read to you by your parent or grandparent sitting on their lap as a child. Or Jesus called you to faith as a close friend, a boyfriend, a girlfriend – someone who cared deeply about you and your soul – shared the Savior in conversations with you.

Jesus called you to faith. Now he calls you to put that faith into action by calling others to be fishers of men and women.

Jesus calls each of us individually to do this work of calling others. But by his gracious plan and providence, Jesus also allows us to call others to assist us in this calling. We call men and women to serve us and others with the gospel in the public ministry as pastors, teachers, and missionaries. So, today, we are going to talk about the call into the public ministry.

You’ve heard this plea, we need more pastors and teachers in our church body. God is blessing us with tremendous growth in our Lutheran grade schools and Lutheran high schools, and with planning to start ten new churches every year for the next ten years. We need more called workers to go out in Jesus’ name and on our behalf to call others to faith with God’s Word and Sacraments.

I recall how God directed my life to become a pastor. I was with my mom registering for freshman classes at Kettle Moraine Lutheran High School. We were in a classroom with Pastor Mehlberg who would be my advisor. Pastor Mehlberg told my mom, “Michael is a very smart young man.” I was thinking, “Yes, I am.” Then he said, “Michael could be a doctor or a lawyer.” I thought, “Yes, I can.” He said, “A lot of medical and legal terms are in Latin, so Michael should take Latin classes.” I thought, “I can do that.”

So, I took four years of Latin and two years of German … not realizing the Latin track was also the pastor track – not the lawyer or doctor track.

The Lord of the Church is blessing us right now at Water of Life with many students whom God is directing to consider serving him and you in the public ministry. One of our members recently graduated from Martin Luther College and accepted a call to be a Lutheran high school teacher. One is a current student at MLC. By God’s grace, we have two high school students considering becoming pastors and possibly six to eight who are considering becoming teachers.

What can we as a congregation, as parents, and as fellow Christians do to encourage these and other young people to consider the call into the public ministry?

One thing we can do is to repent, to confess our sins, and crucify our sinful nature.

What does that mean?

It costs money to educate pastors and teachers. We have scholarships in our church budget for MLC and WLC students. We have our CMO – Congregational Mission Offerings – for support of the WELS as part of our budget. Admit it, we can be stingy with our money. We can be content to give God our leftovers instead of our firstfruits. We can complain when we see how expensive it is to conduct ministry in our church and in our synod.

Young people may not desire the public ministry if they see their pastors and teachers being treated poorly. Parents badgering their children’s teacher. Members complaining about their pastor. Churches and schools overworking and underpaying their pastors and teachers.

So we – pastors and people, teachers, parents, and students – need to hear and put Jesus’ words into action, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

We repent of our lack of financial support of the Lord’s ministries. We repent of our lack of verbal support of our current or past pastors and teachers. We repent of our lack of spiritual support of the Lord’s ministries and ministers with our prayers and involvement in our church and church body.

Then after we repent, by God’s grace and with the power of the Holy Spirit, we believe the good news. We thank God that Jesus gave up everything to cover over our stinginess of giving up a little. Jesus prayed for us and his future apostles because we neglect to pray for our called workers. Jesus was always passionate about saving souls to make up for our apathy and indifference to the plight of lost souls.

By his grace, Jesus called you to faith with water and the Word. He made you heirs of his salvation. He covered your sinful clothes with the white robe of his righteousness. He invited

you to stand before his altar to make your vow of faithfulness at your confirmation – to follow Jesus even to the point of death. Jesus forgives your sins and unites you to him and each other in his sacrament of Holy Communion. He announces the good news that your sins are removed as far as the east is from the west.

God also involves you in his ministry. God could have chosen to just tap people on the shoulder to call them to faith. Or he could have tasked his angels with making disciples of all nations. But he didn’t. Instead, he calls you to call others. He has chosen you to follow him and then uses you to make more followers through his Means of Grace of Word and Sacrament. He equips you for service in his Kingdom with his Word that comforts, encourages, and empowers, so that he can then comfort, encourage, and empower others.

This isn’t a call to sit in the pews or watch on your computer. It isn’t a call to remain comfortable wherever you are in your life. It is a call to action. A call to be fishers of men and women and children. A call to invite others into Christ’s kingdom.

God certainly calls each of you to receive forgiveness to then announce that forgiveness to others. To study the Bible to invite others to Bible study with you. To worship Jesus and invite others to worship Jesus with you.

As Jesus called Peter and Andrew, James and John to be his called workers serving in his name, Jesus also calls men to be pastors and missionaries, and men and women to be teachers in his name. What can we do to encourage our young people to consider calls into the public ministry in Jesus’ name … and in our name?

We support future called workers with our offerings. I take our young men who want to be pastors with me to visit shut-ins and then take them out to eat to talk about the pastoral ministry. We want to create a workshop for our students who desire to be teachers so they can talk to the dedicated grade school and high school teachers we have as members at Water of Life. But we have to feed them. They are teenagers, after all. That costs money. So, we support current and future called workers with increased financial support.

Support these young men and women with your prayers. There is often a petition in the Prayer of the Church for ministers of the gospel. Pray for your pastors and teachers, as well as our Synod’s called workers, in your personal prayers, too.

Speak well of your pastors and teachers. Young people are smart. They pick up on how you treat your pastors and teachers. Personally, I think that’s one reason why so many of our young people are considering the ministry. They see the way you treat your pastors and teachers – how much fun we have in the ministry together – and they like it. They want to be a part of it.

Talk to our young people – grade school, high school, and college students. They can all certainly follow your lead of being faithful servants as lay people. But some may also be willing to be public servants, serving you and others one day in the gospel ministry. They have heard and now want to share Jesus’ message, “Repent and believe in the gospel.”

Wherever we are – pastors in the pulpit, teachers in the classroom, or people in the pew – we are all called by Jesus to call others. Amen.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, inasmuch as God is making an appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:20) Amen.

The Call Out of Skepticism by Pastor Zarling

The call out of skepticism

John 1:43-51 The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” “Come and see!” Philip told him. 47Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” 51Then he added, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

You are loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation by the sanctifying work of the Spirit and faith in the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Amen.

Philip ran through town looking for his friend. It was after work, and he knew that Nathanael liked to sit by himself under a fig tree to pray and meditate on the Scriptures he knew so well.

Philip skidded to a stop when he finally found Nathanael. After he caught his breath, he blurted, “He’s here! The Messiah is here! We found the one Moses and the Prophets wrote about. The Messiah is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth” (John 1:45)!

Nathanael is excited! … And also skeptical. Like every Jewish person, he has been waiting expectantly for the long-promised Messiah to arrive. Nathanael knows very well what the Old Testament Scriptures say about the Messiah. He knows that Moses and the Prophets don’t mention Nazareth. Nazareth is just a little town in the backwater area of Galilee. The Messiah is supposed to be great and glorious. He is great David’s greater Son. All nations will bow before him. He’s supposed to be born in David’s hometown of Bethlehem and then reign on David’s throne eternally in Jerusalem. … But nothing about Nazareth.

So, Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come from Nazareth” (John 1:46)?

Philip doesn’t coerce. He doesn’t debate. He simply and wisely invites, “Come and see” (John 1:46).

Nathanael accepts Philip’s invitation and goes to see Jesus of Nazareth.

As they are approaching, Jesus demonstrates his divinity by announcing what’s located in Nathanael’s heart and his previous location. “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit. … Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you” (John 1:47-48).

Nathanael’s skepticism is gone. He believes that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. He declares, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” (John 1:49).

Yes, Jesus performed a miracle, but Jesus assures Nathanael he will see greater miracles than that. He declares, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” Then he added, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man” (John 1:50-51).

Jesus is recalling the time in the Old Testament when Jacob deceived his elderly blind father and stole his younger brother Esau’s blessing (Genesis 27). Jacob fled from Esau’s murderous threats with nothing but that blessing.

Jacob slept that first night in the wilderness. He must have been exhausted because he used a rock for a pillow. God gave him a dream of a stairway to heaven with angels ascending and descending upon it (Genesis 28:12).

Jesus is claiming he is that stairway to heaven.

Nathanael had been skeptical. Jesus called him out of that skepticism. He called him to faith in the Messiah who was standing in front of him and then called Nathanael to follow him.

We can also be skeptical about Jesus. Our Messiah calls us out of our skepticism to faith and following him.

The young parents are worried as they sit in Children’s Hospital with their sick child.

The married couple has gone to bed again with their backs to each other because of another argument.

The teenage daughter is in her room frustrated that her parents don’t understand her. The parents are in the living room frustrated that their daughter doesn’t understand them.

The father of four is concerned about the economy.

The mother of one is scared she’ll never have more children but only miscarriages.

The single man feels defeated by his addiction.

The single lady feels nervous she’ll never find the right man.

The older couple are tired of taking care of their elderly parents.

The aged saint is wondering when she’ll die.

All these people are skeptical. By God’s grace, all of them have saving faith in Christ. But each of them also has doubts, concerns, worries, frustrations, and emotions that weigh heavily upon their faith.

They are skeptical. They are skeptical of where Jesus is. Skeptical of when God will step in. Skeptical of why God is letting all this happen. Skeptical of how any of this can be for their good.

Perhaps you find yourself sitting with them and with Nathanael under the fig tree. You are all skeptical together.

The devil is waging war on you. He wants you to give up. The world is tempting you. It wants you to give in. Your sinful nature is weak. It wants you to give out.

Pray for the Lord to send you someone like Philip to remind you, “The Messiah is here! Come and see him!” The Lord is here and you can see him in his house of worship.

Pray for the Lord to whisper in your ear like he did with young Samuel, waking you out of your spiritual slumber, calling you by name, inviting you to come to him (1 Samuel 3:10). He has important things to tell you in his Word.

Pray for Jesus to reveal himself to you like he did to Philip and Nathanael.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus did many things to remove skepticism. He proved over and over again that he really is the Son of God. We might think that Jesus has to prove himself to us by keeping us healthy, making our business successful, and providing peace in our family. But those

are things we want. They are earthly desires. Jesus displays his divine glory not in providing physical blessings, but in providing spiritual blessings.

Jesus proved he was the Messiah as he fulfilled the promises made to the patriarchs, the sacrifices under the Law of Moses, and the prophecies made through Israel’s prophets.

Nathanael was impressed that Jesus could read his heart and tell him he had been sitting under the fig tree. Jesus assured Nathanael he would see greater things than that.

As a disciple of Jesus, Nathanael definitely witnessed greater things than that over the next three years. He saw Jesus feed thousands, walk on water, calm the storm, heal the sick, make the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the leprous cleansed, the demons dispossessed, and even the dead undead.

Nathanael was with the other disciples when they saw the crucified but now very much alive Messiah standing in the locked room on Easter evening. Forty days later they saw Jesus ascend from the mountain into heaven.

With the eyes of faith, the Holy Spirit has allowed us to see those great things, too.

We are also blessed to see greater things as Jesus works through his humble Means of Grace of Word and Sacraments. The Holy Spirit whispers his Word into our ears to convict our stubborn heads of sin and comfort our guilty hearts with forgiveness. God the Father blesses the water poured over Bryan and Jackie today at the font to wash their sins away and mark them as his redeemed children. Jesus comes in the bread and wine that carries his body and blood so we can taste his forgiveness and see that he is good.

The Lord of the Church is also visibly blessing us with great things in what he is accomplishing in this corner of his Kingdom we call Water of Life. By his grace and to his glory, this past year we have confirmed 8 youth, confirmed 8 adults, baptized 9 children, and baptized 2 adults. We have also grown with 15 other adults and teens joining our congregation.

These are the kinds of numbers that happen in brand-new mission churches, not a church with a combined history of over 140 years. But maybe our newly merged church is more like a mission church. Lord willing, we’ll see even greater things than this next year.

With each of these newly baptized and confirmed members, Jesus comes to them and calls them individually. Just like he does with you. He calls you out of your skepticism.

He calls to the parents with the sick young child or the adults with their aging sick parents and assures them, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:29).

He calls to the married couple who fight out of pride and says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

He calls to the teenager and her parents, “My plans are not your plans, and your ways are not my ways, but I’ll help you see each other’s plans and understand each other’s ways” (Isaiah 55:8).

He calls to the addicted soul, reminding him to say to the devil, “Get behind me, Satan! I am baptized into Christ!”

He calls to those worried about finances or love life or miscarriages, “I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).

He calls to the aged saint in hospice care, “Someday soon, you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).

Because of the strength of the devil, the persistence of the world, and the weakness of our sinful nature, we will continually find ourselves under Nathanael’s fig tree feeling skeptical again and again.

Then the Holy Spirit whispers in our ears to remind us that Jesus is the stairway to heaven. He perfects our imperfect prayers before they reach the ears of the Father on his throne. He purifies our tainted works so our Father approves of them and hangs them on his heavenly refrigerator like works of art. The Messiah comes down to us in the Means of Grace of Word and Sacraments. It is through these Means that the Holy Spirit called you to faith. It’s through these Means Jesus calls you to put that faith into action by following him. By the greater things of his perfect life, redemptive death, and glorious resurrection, Jesus has opened heaven to us. We walk up the stairway to heaven on the Last Day.

Jesus finds us whenever we are sitting under the fig tree. He calls us out of our skepticism. He calls us to see greater things than we’ve already seen. Amen.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and in his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and establish you in every good work and word (2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17). Amen.

The Wait is Over by Pastor Zarling

Luke 2:22-40 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. 23(As it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male will be called holy to the Lord.”) 24And they came to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

25Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, waiting for the comfort of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27Moved by the Spirit he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, 28Simeon took him into his arms and praised God. He said,

29Lord, you now dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word,

30because my eyes have seen your salvation,

31which you have prepared before the face of all people,

32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.

33Joseph and the child’s mother were amazed at the things that were spoken about him. 34Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Listen carefully, this child is appointed for the falling and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against, 35so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

36Anna, a prophetess, was there. She was a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. She had lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, 37and then she was a widow of eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple complex, since she was worshipping with fasting and prayers night and day. 38Standing nearby at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord. She kept speaking about the child to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

39When they had accomplished everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town, Nazareth. 40The child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16) Amen.

Simeon’s aged eyes didn’t look forward to death. No. They looked forward to life.

The Holy Spirit himself had said, “Simeon, you will not die before you see the Lord’s Christ.”

And so Simeon waited, looking forward to the coming of the Christ.

In the synagogue he had heard the promises so many times that he knew them by heart. That the Christ would be stricken, smitten, and afflicted, and by his wounds we would be healed. Simeon rejoiced as he heard the promise to Adam and Eve: that One would come to crush the head of the serpent, even as the serpent would strike his heel. He heard the promise that to those living in the land of darkness, a light will dawn. He heard the promise that the great descendant of David would rule on David’s throne and that it would be an eternal kingdom.

And Simeon waited.

He waited as his friends grew up with him, as they got married, as they had children, as they died.

And Simeon waited.

He saw the brokenness of the world, the weeping women, the poverty-stricken children, the evil men. He saw so many who lived in darkness. They needed light. He needed a light. And he waited.

He saw seasons come and go. The rains fall on the land, the crops come in. The Word of the Lord remained, declaring what he saw with his own eyes: They needed salvation. They needed deliverance. And he waited.

And then, the Holy Spirit said to him, “Today. Go to the temple.”

And so Simeon got up and went. And he saw the milling throng, so many people there! Mothers and fathers and children, old men and old women, sheep by the flockful.

And he saw them. There. That infant! Just circumcised – squirming in discomfort. That was him. The one that Simeon had been waiting for.

He pushed his way through the crowd to Mary and Joseph. He asked for permission and then he took the child in his arms and he praised God with words so beautiful they sound like a song, “Lord, you now dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Then he handed the child back to the mother. He looked at the mother and he said, “Listen carefully, this child is appointed for the falling and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Simeon then walked away rejoicing. Simeon was waiting for the comfort of Israel. It had arrived! He told everyone he met: “The wait is over! The Christ has been born! Salvation has come to us! The light has dawned! The wait is over!”

The wait is over.

Waiting. That’s something we usually don’t consider to be a very good thing. In fact, to most of us, WAIT is a four-letter-word. We are forced to wait in checkout lines, to wait at the doctor’s office, and to wait for the repairman to show up at our home. We think microwave popcorn takes too long, so how can we be expected to wait?!

Advent forced us to wait. Four weeks of waiting. While the rest of our nation was physically, emotionally, and monetarily spent by the time December 25th finally rolled around, the Christian Church was just getting around to celebrating Christmas. Waiting encourages us to slow down, notice what is going on around us, look forward, look backward, anticipate, and wait to celebrate. Waiting gives us opportunities for conversation and meditation that we might not otherwise have in our busy and hectic lives.

But when the waiting is over, it’s time to rejoice! To break forth in jubilation! When we finally reach the front of the line, when our name is called, when we finally hear the knock on the door. And now our Advent waiting is over. We have ripped into the Christmas presents, visited with our relatives, and broken forth with Christmas hymns and carols. Our waiting is over – not because we have celebrated Christmas but because Christ has come in the flesh.

Simeon is the perfect man to hear about during the Sunday after Christmas for he is truly an Advent man. He was waiting for the coming of the Savior. He was waiting for the “comfort of Israel” which means the relief of Israel through its redemption. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he

would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. Think about that. Doctors may tell a terminally ill patient that she doesn’t have long to live. But Simeon learned that he was going to keep on living until he had seen with his own eyes the promised One of Israel. This wasn’t a death sentence but a life sentence. Every day Simeon would awake and wonder, “Is this the day?” Every child who came into the temple would make him ask, “Is this the One?”

Simeon is a man on tiptoes, wide-eyed and watching for the One who will come to save Israel. Studying each passing face. Staring into the eyes of strangers. Patiently vigilant. Calmly expectant. Eyes open. Arms extended. Searching the crowd for the right face and hoping that face appears today.

We can learn a lot from Simeon, because you’ve probably noticed how short-sighted we all are. We are like children: “I want it now!” Waiting, patience and thinking ahead are all learned behaviors, skills that need to be taught. It is easy to live for just right now, to indulge our sinful nature and gratify our natural cravings. Drug or alcohol addictions, out-of-wedlock childbirths and credit card debts all “happen” to people who couldn’t defer gratification to a later time.

It is said that “patience is a virtue.” If that is true, then that must mean that impatience is a sin.

We are by nature impatient people.

We experience road rage because we are too impatient on the freeway. We covet what others have because we are too impatient to wait for blessings to flow naturally into our life. We stand fuming in the check-out line because we are too impatient for the clerk to finish with the customers ahead of us. We blow up at our children because we are too impatient for their immediate presence in front of us.

Impatience leads to a whole host of other sins – angry outbursts, foul language, pre-marital sex, addictive behaviors, financial debt, and many more.

Impatience is quite often our default setting.

Patience ought to be a way of life for the Christian. Sadly, it is not. That’s why St. Paul writes, “as God’s elect, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Colossians 3:12). We need to be taught to be patient. The best way for God to teach us patience is … wait for it … by waiting.

Waiting is not a weakness. It comes from the serene confidence that God will keep all his promises, that our future is going to be way better than our past, and that God is managing all the events of our lives to get us to the finish line of faith intact.

What joy must have filled Simeon’s soul when his waiting was over! His heart must have skipped a beat when Mary and Joseph walked into the temple carrying their Son. The Holy Spiriti whispered into Simeon’s spirit, “This is the One you’ve been waiting for.” And Simeon gathered the little Child in his old arms and lifted his weary eyes to heaven and broke forth in song.

Simeon’s time of service has come to an end for God has kept his promise. You can almost hear the relief in his voice, for he is at peace. His tired, weak eyes have seen the Lord’s salvation. Though Jesus has yet to be visited by the Magi, step into the Jordan River, do battle with the devil in the wilderness, preach on the Mount or be betrayed, arrested, scourged, crucified, and laid in the tomb – it is as good as done.

The waiting was over.

This Child is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel,” but his Light hurts our eyes which are used to the darkness of sin. “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:5). Because he was rejected by his own people, Jesus revealed himself to the Gentiles – to us and the rest of the world. He is the glory of God to Israel, but that glory was revealed in serving, in lowliness and in humility, and so his glory was displayed in being nailed to the cross. This tiny Child was the redemption of Israel and the salvation of the Gentiles – the world’s Redeemer.

We still sing Simeon’s Christmas song. The traditional place for this hymn is at the close of each day. It’s the Christian’s “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer. That is why we sing The Song of Simeon in two of our evening services in our new hymnal – Prayer at the Close of Day and Compline.

Personally, I use Simeon’s Song as a prayer after private communion. It is a fitting prayer there, too, for it is deep and wonderful theology. In that private setting of a living room or hospital room, the communicant and I have beheld the salvation of our Lord. We have looked upon the humble vessels of bread and wine that carry the Lord’s salvation to us in body and blood. We have held the glory of Christ’s body in our hands. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. We have heard his words addressed to us personally – “my Body given for you; my Blood poured out for you.” This body and blood born of Mary, laid in a manger, nailed to a cross, raised from the dead, glorified at the right hand of God – this he gives to us as our food and drink. Many of the saints will pray this prayer with me as together we lift up our old eyes to heaven to thank God for the comfort of release and redemption. The waiting is over. We can truly depart in peace.

Make no mistake, Simeon is now saying he’s free to leave. Not leave the temple but die. When I was a kid and we would use Simeon’s Song after communion, I used to think we were thanking God because we were free to go home from church now. That was my prayer, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant, depart in peace.” But that’s not what Simeon was singing. He was saying, “Now I can die and rest in peace. I am released from life’s sentence, and free to die. I have seen your salvation and I know it’s mine in this little Child.”

And so are we. We are free to go. We have worshiped the Child in the manger, the Man upon the cross and the Redeemer risen from the tomb. We have beheld his glory, hidden beneath word and water, bread and wine. With the eyes of faith, we have seen him laid in a manger and then laid upon the cross. We have witnessed him as God as an infant in Mary’s womb and the God-Man resurrected from the tomb. We have heard his proclamation of forgiveness and received his blessing upon us. We can truly depart in peace. Our wait is over. Amen.

And everything you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17) Amen.

Nothing is Impossible with God by Pastor Klusmeyer

Text: Luke 1:26-38 Advent

SN: 0038 12/24/2023

Nothing is Impossible with God

“That’s impossible!” How many times have you heard or maybe even said those words? Think about some of the things that people have said would be impossible. If you went back a little more than a hundred years, people would have said it would be impossible to transport vast numbers of people by air across the oceans. It would have seemed like utter fancy to think that men would walk on the moon. Just think in our own lifetime. It was considered impossible for a powerful computer to be small or affordable enough to be kept in a house, let alone fit inside someone’s pocket.

All of these things were considered impossible, yet even these achievements pale in comparison to the impossible things that God has done on behalf of his people. Just think of some of God’s impossible acts. How he split the waters of the Red Sea and saved his people from the hand of pharaoh, how he provided mana and quail in the desert, how he made the walls of Jericho fall with a mighty crash, or how he destroyed the mighty Assyrian army as it surrounded the city of Jerusalem during the reign of King Hezekiah. But all of these impossible acts of God pale when compared to the greatest miracle that God did for his people. The great and mighty wonder proclaimed by the Angel Gabriel to a meek and humble maiden: that God would send his one and only Son to be born of a virgin to save the world from sin. This incredible act of grace fulfilled all of God’s promises to his people and assures us beyond any doubt that nothing is impossible with God.

All of humanity faces an impossible problem. To earn the eternal joy of heaven, God demands that we live perfect lives free from any sin in accordance with his just and holy law. This is impossible. By nature, we are born dead in our trespasses and sins as enemies who are hostile to God. We can do nothing to save ourselves. We are truly lost and condemned creatures. The very inclination of our hearts is only to do evil all the time. Even when we have been reborn through the waters of baptism, we must still struggle daily with the sinful nature we have inherited from Adam and Eve. We sin each and every day and deserve only the wrath and punishment of God. We are far, so very, very far from the perfection that God demands of us.

Adam and Eve destroyed the perfection of God’s creation when they listened to the lies of Satan and ate the fruit that God commanded them not to eat. They destroyed their relationship with God and brought sin and death into the world. The way to heaven was closed to them, and they could do nothing to save themselves. But God, in his grace and mercy, did not want to leave humanity in this wretched state. It was impossible for us to restore our relationship with God, but nothing is impossible with God. He promised that he would send a Savior who would crush the head of Satan and destroy the power of sin and death. This is the great and impossible promise of God that echoed down through the long ages until Gabriel announced its fulfillment in his joyous proclamation to Mary.

Throughout the long years of the Old Testament, the people of God waited in hope for the coming of the Savior. God continued to renew his impossible promise and show his love and mercy to his people. God renewed this promise to Abraham. He took a man and wife who were nearly a hundred years old and made an impossible promise to them. He told Abraham to look at the vast array of the night sky and count the multitude of stars. God promised, “Now look toward the sky and count the stars if you are able to count them. This is what your descendants will be like.” What an impossible promise, but nothing is impossible with God. Abraham's descendants grew and multiplied into a great people. A people whom God rescued from the bitterness of slavery with his mighty hand. A people whom God saved again and again through his grace and mercy, even when they turned away from him. A people God preserved so that from them a Savior would be born. A Savior who would rescue all people from the horror of sin.

In time, God chose a young man from the tribe of Judah to be his anointed king. God made an impossible promise to King David. He promised, “Your house will stand firm, and your kingdom will endure forever before you. Your throne will be established forever.” What an impossible promise that only God could fulfill. We know that God did not mean that descendants of David would rule over Israel for eternity. The line of kings was broken, but God preserved the descendants of David so that the King of kings could be born from an insignificant young woman from the house and line of David. This was to fulfill another impossible promise God had made through the Prophet Isaiah: "Therefore the Lord will give a sign for all of you. Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and name him Immanuel.”

The Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to proclaim the time had come for God to fulfill his impossible promise. Mary had been chosen to be the mother of the Savior, the mother of God Most High. Mary wasn’t chosen because she was special or pure from sin. Mary was a sinner, just like you and me. There was nothing unique or special about Mary. God could have chosen a mighty queen or empress to be the mother of his Son, but instead, he chose an ordinary girl from an ordinary town. Mary needed a Savior just like us. God chose Mary out of pure grace. This is the same reason that God has chosen each of us.

What an impossible promise! What an impossible miracle that a virgin should be with a child, and not just any child, but the Son of God Most High conceived by the Holy Spirit. Jesus needed to be born in this unique and miraculous way to save us from our sins. Because Jesus was born of a virgin, he was free from the corruption of original sin. He could do what was impossible for us. He could do something that was only possible for God and live a life free from sin. Jesus placed himself under the burden of God’s holy law and kept all of its requirements for us.

In a truly profound and impossible mystery, Jesus Christ, who was the true God from eternity, was born as a tiny, helpless baby. He became Immanuel, God with Us, so that he could be tempted in every way as we are and yet be without sin. He lived a poor and lowly life so that he could understand what it was to be a human. So that he could feel our pain and sorrow and suffer for us. And then Jesus did something wonderful. He allowed himself to be tortured and crucified for us. He did this to fulfill the promise that God had made to Adam and Eve, Abraham, and David that a Savior would come to save the world from the curse of sin. On the cross, God died. On the cross, Jesus took all our sins upon himself and became sin for us. God made him, who did not know sin, to become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

Dear friends, as we consider the Angel Gabriel’s words to Mary this morning, let us be encouraged and reminded that our God is faithful and keeps his promises. He kept the impossible promise to save the world from sin. He did the impossible and sent his one and only Son to be born of a virgin. We can be confident that God continues to do the impossible in our lives. We washed us and gave us new life through the waters of baptism. He is here with us as he gives us the forgiveness of sins through his body and blood and has given us the impossible gift of eternal life with him.

These are the promises of God that we can cling to during the darkest hours of our lives. When we face times of trouble and hardship, when we face times of pain and loss, we cling to the promises of God and know that he is continually by our side and will help, comfort, and support us every day of our lives. We can place our trust in God, cling to his promises with the same faith as Mary, and confess, “See, I am the Lord’s servant. May it happen to me as you have said.”

Now to him, who is able, according to the power that is at work within us, to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.

The Greatest Mystery by Pastor Klusmeyer

Text: John 1:1-18

SN: 0039 12/25/23

The Greatest Mystery

Our world is full of mysteries. I could drop a pencil from the pulpit and know that it will hit the floor, but I don’t think I could explain to you why it does. I understand the concept of gravity and think it has something to do with the curvature of space-time, but I can’t explain it much better. I learned that light is both a wave and a particle, but I can’t explain that very well, either. I love listening to music but writing and reading it are mysteries to me.

These are just a few mundane mysteries that we encounter every day of our lives. These are things we can’t explain, but we believe and accept them as real. Today, we are celebrating a far greater mystery, perhaps the greatest mystery that has ever happened in the history of the world. The Apostle John describes this great and mighty wonder in beautiful and poetic words, “The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.” What powerful words! What a beautiful mystery that Jesus Christ, God from eternity, took on human flesh and was born of the Virgin Mary.

For almost 2,000 years, humanity has struggled to understand this greatest of mysteries. We have struggled to understand how God could become man. John begins his Gospel at the beginning of all things. He underscores the eternal nature of our Savior by revealing to us that Christ was with God the Father at the creation of the universe. These simple words contain complicated concepts beyond our limited human ability to comprehend. The mystery of eternity is that God existed before the creation of time itself. That God exists in eternity that extends in both directions beyond the explanation of time—the profound mystery of the Trinity itself. We worship one God in Three persons and three persons in one God.

As we ponder the birth of our Savior. As we rejoice in the truth that God became flesh and made his dwelling among us, we must keep these amazing mysteries in mind. Jesus is God, that Jesus is eternal, that Jesus and the Father are one, and yet it was not the Father who was born in that lowly manger but the Son who was begotten of the Father from eternity. Dear friends, this mystery is beyond our understanding. This is a mystery that is only revealed to us through the Words of Scripture, and it is a mystery that is only believed by the miracle of the Holy Spirit working faith in our hearts. This mystery is the foundation of our faith.

What joy! What wonder we have as we consider this greatest of miracles and mysteries. But as we consider the birth of our Savior, we must also remember the reason that Christ needed to become flesh and make his dwelling among us. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth in sinless perfection. He created Adam and Eve in his perfect image. But Adam and Eve disobeyed the command of God, and all mankind was cursed with sin and death. By nature, we are all born dead in sin and hostile to God. We are incapable of keeping God’s holy law. We daily sin much in our thoughts, words, and actions. God, in his perfect holiness, cannot tolerate our sinfulness. God must punish our sins.

But our God is also a God of love and grace. God does not want to condemn his children to the fires of hell. God wants to save us. We cannot save ourselves, and so God, in the greatest act of love, chose to save us himself. He sent his one and only Son to take on human flesh to save us. As the Apostle Paul beautifully writes for us, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons. And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to shout, ‘Abba, Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if you are a son, then you are also an heir of God through Christ.”

This is the wondrous mystery of our salvation. Jesus Christ, God from eternity, was born as a helpless baby so that he could live a perfect life in our place. He would then offer his perfect life as a ransom to pay for the sins of the whole world. Jesus Christ, true God from eternity, suffered and died

on the cross to redeem us from our sins. The only Son of God died so that we could be adopted as Sons of God most high and receive the gift of eternal life instead of eternal death.

This is the amazing mystery of Christmas. This is the beauty of knowing that the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. Our God loved us so much that the Creator took on the form of the fallen creature to save us. The body that was in the manger was the same body that hung on a cross for our sins, and it is the same body that, in another mystery beyond comprehension, is giving to us to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of sins.

Dear friends, I cannot adequately explain to you the mystery of gravity or music. I also cannot explain to you the mystery of the incarnation of how God became man and made his dwelling among us. But what I can proclaim to you is the message that our God loved us so much that he came and lived as one of us so that he could suffer and die and save us from our sins. Amen.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!