Feast of St. Stephen, Martyr

Today is the Feast of St. Stephen, Martyr.  Stephen is mentioned in Acts chapters 6-7 as one of the seven deacons appointed by the Church to provide for the needs of the poor in the Christian community in Jerusalem.  Because of his powerful witness to the Gospel, Stephen was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, where he boldly confessed Christ.  Infuriated, the Sanhedrin took him outside of the city and stoned him to death.  Stephen was the Church’s first martyr (a word which in Greek means “witness”) as he died for the faith.  He is remembered for commending himself to Christ in death when he said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” and for forgiving those murdering him with the words, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59-60).

Scripture reading:

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel. And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me….

You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

(Acts 6:8-7:2a, 51-60 ESV)

Collect of the Day:

Heavenly Father, in the midst of our sufferings for the sake of Christ grant us grace to follow the example of the first martyr, Stephen, that we may also look to the One who suffered and was crucified on our behalf and pray for those who do us wrong; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Day - Jn 1:1-14

                                                                                    Christmas Day

                                                                                    Jn 1:1-14

                                                                                    12/25/15

           

            Amy and I have never been in a position where we could take our time in looking to buy a house in an area that already we knew.  Each time – in the Dallas area, the Chicago area, and then in Marion – we had a very small window in which we could find a home.  Each time it was in an area that we did not know at all. 

            Under these conditions, you are not going to recognize all the factors about the house and area.  In the rush of looking for a house, then finding it, going through the buying process and the house inspection, you have only scratched the surface.  It is only once you actually buy the house, move in and begin to live there that you are going recognize the quirky features – like why is that light switch behind the door when you open it? 

            I had one of these realizations the first night when I went outside.  We had – of course – looked at the house in the day time.  We had the house inspection in the day time. Something I never realized until the first night when we were in the home and I went outside is that our neighborhood doesn’t have any streetlights.  There are none.  And so at night, things are really dark. 

            What is more, Marion is not a large urban area.  After living in the St. Louis, the Washington, D.C., the Dallas, and the Chicago areas, I had gotten used to the general glow that is present in an urban area at night. But Marion is not urban, and when you live anywhere near the edge of town you really live right next to a rural area that is very dark. 

            The Gospel lesson for Christmas Day is the Gospel of John’s classic discussion of the incarnation of the Son of God.  John explains who Jesus Christ is and what he means for us.  He says that Jesus is the light of life that has come into a world of darkness.

            The Gospel of John is quite different in character from Matthew, Mark and Luke.  John assumes that the reader already knows details about Jesus’ life and ministry. So for example, in the Gospel John the Baptist says that the descent of the Spirit on Jesus has identified him as the coming One – and yet the Gospel never actually narrates Jesus’ baptism.  Factors like this have caused scholar to believe that John was the last Gospel to be written.

            John begins his Gospel with some of the most remarkable and important statements in Scripture.   He writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  John begins with the words of Genesis 1:1 – “in the beginning.”  He says that when all things began there was the Word; the Word was with God; the Word was God. 

            The Word is the second person of the Trinity – the Son of God. The Word is distinguished from God, but also confessed as God. We have here the mystery of the Holy Trinity: for the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Father; and yet the Father is God, and the Son is God. We learn that the Word – the Son of God – was active in making all of creation.

            In the last verse of our reading we find the clearest explanation of what we are celebrating today.  John says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  The Word is really God. And yet the Word really became flesh.  With these words, John tells us that the baby in the manger on Christmas is true God and true man. He is God in the flesh.

            Jesus Christ is God. That’s what John is saying.  This text reveals how silly it is to say that Christians and Muslims have the same God.  Jesus fulfills a prophetic role, but he is far more than a prophet.  He is God in the flesh.  John’s Gospel leaves no doubt about this.  The risen Lord invites Thomas to touch his flesh, and Thomas confesses: “My Lord and my God!”

            Jesus is God, the source of all life.  And so John says in our text, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”  Jesus brings life, and so John describes him as the light of men.  As he goes on to say in our text, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

            The Son of God entered into our world in the incarnation. He entered into a world of darkness.  He entered into a world of sin and death, a world where Satan – a murderer and the father of lies – held sway.  Jesus Christ came to bring life.  He came to overcome sin and death by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.  He came to give life to all who believe in him.  Jesus said of his death, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”  He declared: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

            This is the good news that we celebrate on Christmas. Now almost everyone celebrates Christmas – I mean, my Hindu neighbors put up better Christmas lights on their house than I do!  But not everyone celebrates Christmas because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us – because of the incarnation of the Son of God.

            John addresses this reality in our text. He says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”  John likes to use language that means two things that are true at the same time.  The verb translated here as “overcome” also means “receive.”  Jesus the light came into the darkness of this sinful world.  The darkness has not overcome Jesus who conquered through his death and resurrection. 

            But at the same time, the darkness has also not received Jesus.  As John goes on to say in our text, “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

            The world of darkness rejects Jesus – it does not believe in him.  Later in the Gospel Jesus explains why.  Our Lord declared that God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Jesus said: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

            Jesus is rejected because people want to hang on to their ways of doing things. They want to be in charge.  They do not want to let God be God.  And while you do believe in Jesus Christ, until you die or our Lord returns, the same inclination continues to dwell in you as well.  You face the continuing temptation to do things your way and to make something else into god.  In fact, this does happen.  And so our life of faith in Jesus is also a life in which we continue to confess that we are sinners who need Jesus each day.  We struggle against the darkness, and so in faith we cling to Jesus because we know he has said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

            In his Gospel, John is the apostolic messenger who has shared the good news about Jesus the light of life.  At the end of the Gospel, John says, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  This Spirit inspired word continues to bring the Word become flesh to us.  The baby in the manger, now comes to us as the risen, ascended and glorified Lord through his Word and his Sacraments.  He sustains us in faith.  He gives us forgiveness.  He gives us life – life that extends beyond death and will culminate in resurrection life.

            This is a life that we want others to have too.  We want our family and our friends to share in this life.  Christmas – both the amazing truth of the incarnation and the way people celebrate Christmas without the incarnate One – puts this right before us.

            And so Christmas leads us to reflect upon those who need to hear about Jesus the light of life.  Remember, Jesus’ word is always doing something.  It is a word that calls people to faith.  And it is a word that has power, even when it is rejected.  Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”

            When you speak about Jesus, it is Jesus who speaks. If Jesus is rejected, it’s not you who is being rejected.  There is something far bigger happening.  In his first epistle, John said, “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

            On this Christmas day we give thanks for the Word become flesh through whom we have received life.  Jesus Christ is God in the flesh – true God and true man.  In him is life, and that life is the light of men.  Because of his death and resurrection you do not walk in darkness but have the light of life – eternal life already now.   

           

           

             

           

      

Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Eve - Titus 2:11-14

                                                                                    Christmas Eve

                                                                                    Titus 2:11-14

                                                                                    12/24/15

            Unless you have been living under a rock, you are aware that Star Wars Episode VII – The Force Awakens opened in theaters last week.  The much anticipated follow up to the previous two trilogies of movies is on track to break all records for financial success.  It has also been declared a success by even the most avid Stars Wars fans, as it has recaptured the feel of the original Star Wars trilogy in an engaging and fun movie.

            I took the kids to see it last Friday.  Though they have seen the six previous Stars Wars movies many times, they had never seen any of them in the theater when they were released. After all, Amy and I saw the last of the movies the day before Matthew and Abigail were born.

            I was seven years old when the first Star Wars movie was released in 1977. From the beginning of the movie – when a massive Imperial Star Destroyers passes over head pursuing a rebel ship carrying Princess Leia – I knew that I had never seen anything like it.

            That feeling of wonder continued to the very end, in the climactic battle as the rebels seek to destroy the massive Death Star space station.  Before the attack, the smuggler Han Solo is shown rebuffing the pleas of Luke Skywalker as he tries to persuade Han to join the rebel attack.  Han Solo doesn’t believe in any cause except himself – and besides he owes Jabba the Hut money and needs to repay it.

            The rebels and Luke Skywalker press home the attack on the Death Star as they seek to launch torpedoes down a ventilating shaft.  One by one they are destroyed by Imperial tie fighters, until finally, only Luke Skywalker has a chance as he races down the trench structure of the Death Star towards the opening. 

            Three tie fighters are closing in on him – the middle one piloted by the villain Darth Vader.  Darth Vader has locked in onto Skywalker and is just about to destroy him.  Then suddenly, one of tie fighters explodes.  The movie cuts away to show Han Solo cheering in the cockpit of his ship the Millenium Falcon, and then it shows the Millenium Falcon rushing down towards the Death Star.   Surprised, the second tie fighter moves abruptly and hits Darth Vader’s ship.  Vader is sent spinning out into space as the other tie fighter collides with the wall and explodes.  Han Solo shouts, “You’re all clear kid.  Now let’s blow this thing and go home.”  Han Solo and the Millenium Falcon appeared at the critical moment in order to save Luke Skywalker and the rebellion itself from the evil Empire.

            The epistle reading for Christmas Eve speaks about another story which is cosmic in scope.  We are reminded that in the birth of Jesus Christ at Bethlehem, God’s grace appeared in our world in order to save us from the evil empire of Satan, sin and death.  He has worked salvation for us now, and because of that salvation we now live in ways that set us apart from the world. Yet we do so knowing that we looking for one more appearing of the risen Lord.

            Martin Luther observed that while the Gospels tell us what happened with Jesus, St. Paul tells us what it means.  Tonight we hear in our Gospel lesson about the birth of Jesus Christ – a birth that is announced by angels to shepherds. Now certainly the Gospels do tell us what the events mean. After all, we hear the angel announce, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luther’s point is that Paul assumes we know about the events themselves.  Instead he focuses only on what they mean for us.

            Paul begins our text by saying, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.” This is how the apostle puts the events of Christmas Eve into his own words: “the grace of God has appeared.” 

            In Paul’s letters, “grace” is the completely undeserved loving favor of God.  It is the love of God directed towards us which we do not deserve.  We don’t deserve it because as sinners we have rebelled against God.  We have said by our actions that we want other gods.  We want ourselves to be the god of our own life.  We want the unholy trinity of me, myself and I to be the center of our universe. As Paul goes on to say in the next chapter: “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.”

            And yet … God loved us any way.  Paul says in Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” The grace of God appeared as the One conceived by the Holy Spirit was born to Mary in a stable in Bethlehem.  Jesus Christ, who is true God and true man, was born because God desired to bring salvation to all people.  In his undeserved love, he wanted to bring salvation to you.

            The grace of God appeared in the incarnation of Jesus Christ.  But this was only the beginning. Paul says Jesus is the One “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession.”  The baby Jesus in the manger grew up to be the man on the cross – the man on the cross in your place.  He gave himself on your behalf. He took your place – your sin – and received Gods’ judgment so that you never will.

            Tonight we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  We rejoice in the fact that he exited the darkness of Mary’s womb as he was born and brought his life out into the world.  Jesus was born in order to die.  But then on the third day he exited the darkness of the tomb and brought his new resurrection life out into the world.  Jesus is the second Adam who has provided the answer to sin, and has begun the life that will be ours.

            Because of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything has changed.  In fact, Paul says that we live in a new and unique moment in human history.  Paul calls it the “now age” in our text. We live in the time when the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation and the resurrection of the Last Day.  That is what is already here. And because of what God has done through the work of his Spirit, Jesus causes us to live like it.  Paul says in our text that the saving grace of God revealed in Jesus trains “us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.”

            The Spirit of the risen Lord who is in us – the same Spirit who will raise and transform our bodies when Christ returns – causes us to renounce sinful ways and to embrace the ways of God.  You received the Spirit in the waters of Holy Baptism. There he gave you new spiritual life.  Paul says in the next chapter, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

            Paul says you are not saved because of works.  You are not saved because of anything you do.  After all, it is the grace of God that saves which appeared on Christmas Eve.  You receive this salvation by faith as a gift.  But when we turn to how faith acts in love, that’s a different story altogether.  After all, Paul says in our text that Jesus is the One “who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

            When it comes to loving our neighbor, now we are all in when it comes to doing.  As Paul says in the next chapter after talking about the regeneration that occurs in Holy Baptism: “The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.”  You become the means by which God cares for those around you.  Martin Luther said that you become the pipe that delivers God’s love.  The love that you have received by faith, you now pass on in deeds through the work of the Spirit.

            We never do this perfectly.  It is always done in conflict with the old man in us – the continuing presence of sin that characterizes the now and not yet of the “now age” in which we live.  For while we celebrate the appearance of the grace of God on Christmas Eve which brought the “now age” in which we live, we also know that all is not yet complete.  Sin still exists. Death still exists.  The end of these things has begun in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but it is not yet fully here for us.  We need to listen to Paul tonight when he reminds us that we are still “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

            We rejoice and celebrate tonight that the incarnate Son of God was born in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve.  In his first coming the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation to all people. But the coming as a baby in a manger was only his first coming. And now as God’s people we are to live as those who are looking for his second coming.

            This is our blessed hope.  Yet tonight reminds us that the word “hope” does not connote any uncertainty. Instead, this hope is one of eager and confident expectation.  It is a hope that knows Jesus came on Christmas Eve. It is a hope that knows Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven as he was exalted.  And so it is a hope that lives in the knowledge that Jesus who is still the incarnate One will come in power and glory once again.