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 - Ex 40:17-21, 34-38

                                                                                    Christmas Day

                                                                                    Ex 40: 17-21, 34-38

                                                                                    12/25/17

            Recently Timothy asked me about what happened to the ark of the covenant.  Now admittedly I was a little surprised by this, because certainly, he already knew the answer.  An Egyptian Pharaoh took it from Jerusalem back to Egypt to the city of Tanis.  He had the Well of Souls built deep in the ground and entombed the Ark there.  However soon after this a sandstorm that lasted an entire year destroyed the city.

            Around 1936 Tanis was rediscovered and a German archaeological team sought to find the Well of Souls and recover the ark of the covenant.  However, the American archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones obtained the ark and it was brought to the United States where the U.S. government crated it up and stored it – presumably to this day – at Hanger 51 in Nevada.

            Of course, none of that is really true and comes from the Indiana Jones movies.  In fact the 1981 movie, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” got just about everything wrong.  An army that carries the ark with it is not invincible – the Israelites tried that and were defeated by the Philistines, who in fact captured the ark. While the Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak did loot the temple in the tenth century B.C., he didn’t take the Ark.  2 Chronicles tells us that the ark of the covenant was still at the temple during the reign of King Josiah at the end of the seventh century B.C.

            What happened to the ark of the covenant is in fact a mystery.  In 587 B.C. the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and took the people of Judah into exile in Babylon.  After this, the Ark is never heard of again.  Most likely the ark of the covenant was destroyed or taken back to Babylon where it later perished in the course of the wars and conquests that swept through Mesopotamia over the centuries.  Legends later arose that Jeremiah buried it, or that the ark was taken to Ethiopia, but we have no evidence that these are anything more than just stories.

            Today, the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord teaches us that it really doesn’t matter what happened to the ark of the covenant.  It doesn’t because all of the things the ark meant and did for Israel have been fulfilled in the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ.  The baby in the manger in Bethlehm is the ark of the covenant for us … and more.

            Our text describes what happened when Moses first set up the tabernacle.  Earlier in Exodus Yahweh had said, “Then have them make a tabernacle for me, and I will dwell among them. Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.”  God said that a tabernacle would be the means by which he would dwell in the midst of his people.  Moses didn’t have to figure out what this would be like.  Instead, Yahweh gave very specific designs – a pattern that they were to follow.  The Holy Spirit endowed certain craftsman with skill to carry out this work.

            The heart of the tabernacle was the ark of the covenant. And while we often just speak about “the ark,” the biblical text very clearly identifies one part of the ark as being unique and significant. This was the lid of the ark which had cherubim on each end.  The lid was called the mercy seat.  It was the part that was particularly associated with Yahweh’s presence.  In the Psalms, Yahweh is often described as beings enthroned above the cherubim of the mercy seat.

            We learn that when all was completed, the mercy seat was placed on the ark and the tabernacle was set up.  The ark of the covenant was screened off from the rest of the tabernacle in the holy of holies. Next we hear, “Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

            A cloud covered the tabernacle and the glory of Yahweh filled it. This glory was the perceptible presence of God.  The holy God was there, and because of the presence of this glory Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle.  When the temple was dedicated in Jerusalem by King Solomon as a replacement for the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant had been brought inside the holy of holies, the exact same thing happened again. The ark of the covenant was the located presence of Yahweh.  God’s people knew for sure where God was present for them.

            On that first Christmas morning, Mary and Joseph awoke in a stable.  Their first born son, Jesus was with them.  He was, as we heard in last night’s Gospel lesson, lying in a manger.  Just as Gabriel had announced to Mary, the Holy Spirit had come upon her; the power of the Most High had overshadowed her, and though a virgin she had conceived and given birth to the Son of God.  John describes this for us in today’s Gospel lesson when he refers to the Son of God as the Word and says, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

            The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity is God from all eternity.  John tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Jesus Christ in the manger was true God and true man.  His flesh was the located means by which God was now present, just as the ark of the covenant was the located means by which God was present with Israel in the Old Testament. John makes this connection impossible to miss when he uses the language of “dwells” and refers to “glory.”

            But there was more going on than just the fact that God was now present in this way.  In the Old Testament the cover of the ark – the mercy seat – was the central piece in the Day of Atonement.  Once a year the high priest entered the holy of holies and sprinkled the blood of a sacrificed bull and goat on the mercy seat.  Yahweh told them, “In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been.”

            God is holy.  He had told the people “Therefore you shall be holy as the Lord your God is holy” – but they were not.  Their sin had to be atoned – the contagion of their sin removed – in order for the holy God to continue to dwell in midst of Israel. 

            God has not changed.  He is still the holy God.  And you are no different than Israel.  You are sinners who complain about what God is or is not doing.  You are sinners who doubt God.  You are sinners who create false gods whom you serve.  This sin clings to you from the moment of your conception.  It remains an infection until the day you die. And because of this you can’t have fellowship with God. You can’t be in the presence of the holy God.  Instead, the only thing you can deserve is quite the opposite – you deserve God’s wrath and eternal judgment.

            But that is why the Son of God had entered into our world.  He came to be the means by which our sin was atoned for once and for all.  He himself was the means by which the sin that separated us from God was removed.  The writer to the Hebrews develops this fact at some length.  He says, “But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.”

            Jesus offered himself has the sacrifice to remove our sin.  He used his own blood to cleanse us. The writer to the Hebrews goes on to say, “But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.”  The flesh of the baby in the manger will grow to be the flesh of the man nailed to the cross. This is why the Father sent the Son into the world.  Jesus Christ was born to die – a death that has freed you from sin.

             However the writer to the Hebrews also goes on to tell us, “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”  Jesus will appear a second time because he did not stay dead the first time.  Instead, he defeated death as he rose on the third day.  This too was why the Son of God became flesh.  He became flesh not only to die as a sacrifice, but also to begin the resurrection of the last day – to transform flesh so that it will never die again. This is what he will give to us when he returns in glory on the last day.

            The Son of God entered into our world and dwelt among us.  He has made atonement for our sin by giving himself as the sacrifice on the cross.  He has given us the living hope of the resurrection.  He has done all this for us – people who dwell in the midst of others.  He has done this so that we can now live for them.  You have been freed from sin so that instead of spending time worrying about your standing before God, you can serve the neighbor who stands before you.

            This is not something you can do on your own.  So in order to make this possible, Jesus Christ still uses located means to dwell in our midst.  He no longer lies as a baby in a manger, yet he does this in way that is no less located and tangible; no less bodily.  In the Sacrament of the Altar Jesus Christ is present with you in his true body and blood.  He comes to you bodily and sustains you in faith so that you can serve your neighbor with your body. He gives us forgiveness for the times we have chosen to ignore these others.  He feeds us so that we can continue in the life of faith, forgiven by God and loving one another.

   

           

   

           

           

           

   

           

           

           

 

                                                                                                           

Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Eve - Lk 2:1-20

                                                                                    Christmas Eve

                                                                                    Lk 2:1-20

                                                                                    12/24/17

            In 9 B.C. a stone inscription was made in Priene, a city in Asia Minor – modern day Turkey.  It says: “Since providence, which has ordered all things and is deeply interested in our life, has set in most perfect order by giving us Augustus, whom she filled with virtue that he might benefit humankind, sending him as a savior, both for us and for our descendants, that he might end war and arrange all things, and since he, Caesar, by his appearance excelled even our anticipations, surpassing all previous benefactors, and not even leaving to posterity any hope of surpassing what he has done, and since the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of the good tidings for the world that came by reason of him, which Asia resolved in Smyrna.”

            In this inscription, the Emperor Augustus is called a god.  That’s really not surprising, since it was a common practice in the eastern part of the Roman empire – a practice that stretched all the way back to the time of Alexander the Great.  What is striking is that he is called a “savior” who has ended war and brought blessings to all mankind.  His birth is described as the beginning of “good tidings for the world” – a plural form of the word we know in the New Testament as “Gospel.” His birth is described as the beginning of a new era, and in fact the inscription declares that the date of Augustus’ birth will be the first day of the new year.

            Now on the one hand this is the city of Priene and the  provincial assembly for the province of Asia flattering the emperor in order to obtain his good will and benefits.  But on the other hand it contains an element of truth.  From 133 B.C. to 31 B.C. the Roman world had been racked by civil war.  Large, highly skilled armies had fought against each other in unceasing carnage.  The movement of these armies was a constant hardship for the locals because the soldiers forced people to supply and move the army.

            All of this had come to an end in 31 B.C. when Augustus – then known as Octavian – defeated the forces of Mark Antony and Queen Cleopatra at Actium.  Augustus became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.  Areas that had suffered greatly in the civil wars now knew so great a peace that Roman legions were no longer even stationed there.

            Augustus had brought peace.  But for him, it was all about power.  One by one he eliminated all of the competition.  He allied with Mark Antony to defeat Brutus and Cassius at Philippi in 42 B.C. Then he turned against Mark Antony and eliminated him.  Augustus claimed to be “restoring the Republic,” but in fact he was cleverly reorganizing things so that he was the absolute ruler. And while he may have brought peace within the Roman empire, he certainly didn’t end wars.  Instead, he launched campaign after campaign to enlarge the empire using his newly formed professional army.

            It is against this background that we need to hear the words in our text that were spoken about five years after the Priene inscription was made.  We learn in our Gospel lesson that there were shepherds in the area around Bethlehem who were out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.

            But the angel had not come to terrify them.  Instead he said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And as if to punctuate the truth of his statement suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army of angels praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

            You will note that like the Priene inscription the angel announces good news that is for all people.  He too announces that a Savior has been born.  And he calls him “Lord” – the very term that was used to describe the Roman Emperor.

            On the other hand, the angel is not speaking to cultural Greeks in Asia Minor.  Instead, he addresses Jews who live in Judea.  And so this Savior whose birth he announces has a clear heritage.  The angel declares that the Christ has been born in Bethlehem – the city of David.  He brings the good news that Yahweh has sent the Messiah – the king who descends from David.  This is the one who fulfills the prophet Isaiah: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”  This is the one upon him the Spirit will rest. This is the one about whom the prophet said: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.”

            Yet when we look a little closer, there are several things here that are puzzling.  The glory of Yahweh accompanies angels as they announce this incredible good news. However, the news is announced to shepherds who are living outside with sheep.  This is not something being announced in the midst of the rich, the powerful and the cultured like in the forum of a Greco-Roman city.  It’s announced in a backwater of the Roman empire. And it’s announced to people who are nobodies in their own culture.

            That is strange enough.  But then listen to what the angel says, “And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” Now we have viewed so many crèche scenes that we are no longer able to recognize how bizarre that is.  The angel announces that the sign demonstrating the truth of his words is that they will find a baby in an animal feeding trough.  To put it in the terms of our own world: “You will find a baby in a dumpster.”

            The claims made about Jesus Christ the Lord, and Caesar Augustus the lord, are very similar.  And yet in our text tonight we see that these two are completely different.  Augustus operates by power and force and might.  He acts to service himself.  The real beneficiaries of his actions are the rich and powerful – after all, those are the kind of people who decided to put up the inscription at Priene.

            Jesus Christ on the other hand shows in his birth that he works in humility and weakness.  He is the Christ – the Messiah born in Bethlehem and yet he doesn’t even have a place in an inn. He is the Son of God, incarnate by the work of the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary.  Yet he is born in the midst of animals and placed in a feeding trough.

            In this we receive the first glimpse into how he will carry out his saving work.  For Jesus has not come to conquer by force and power.  Instead he has come to win the victory over sin, death and the devil by suffering and sacrifice.  He has come to give forgiveness and salvation by dying on a cross – a cross of all things!  Like the manger, this too is something that we have seen so often that we now fail to realize how bizarre and offensive it was.  You can hear it in Paul’s words to the Philippians: “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

            The Son of God did not enter into the world for his own benefit. He came to serve you. The angel announced to the shepherds, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  Literally, the Greek says, “There has been born for you today a Savior.” 

            The angel announced this was the Savior for the shepherds. The beneficiaries of this Savior were not the powerful and accomplished.  They were the weak and the lowly.  Or more specifically, they continue to be all people who recognize that they are weak and lowly.  Jesus is the Savior today for you when you see the sin in your life.  He is the Savior for you when you confess the angry thoughts and words; the covetous desires; the ungrateful ambivalence about the daily bread God so richly provides.  These are the reasons that he entered into our world and died on the cross.

            He died to give you forgiveness – to give you the status of a saint before God.  Yet this would not be good news of great joy if that were it.  Instead, in the resurrection on the third day Jesus Christ defeated death.   His saving work may have been one that occurred in humility and weakness, but he did not remain there.  Instead, he rose from the dead with a body transformed so that it can never die again.  He ascended into heaven and has been exalted as the One who sits at the right and of the Father.  As the exalted One, he has poured forth the Holy Spirit.  Through the Spirit he calls people to faith and sustains them as believers. 

            Like Jesus’ own earthly ministry, this work of the Spirit through the Means of Grace looks humble and lowly. It occurs through the word of God preached and shared.  It occurs through water in Holy Baptism, and bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Altar.  Yet just as the baby in the manger and the man on the cross were salvation present for us, so also are the Means of Grace today. They are the Son of God present giving forgiveness.  They are his Spirit sustaining faith in the crucified and risen Lord.

            It is the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.  And the presence of the Spirit within you points to the day when all the humility and weakness will fall way. As we celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas we hear in our text that the announcement of this arrival was accompanied by a multitude of the heavenly host. The angelic army showed up praising God. 

            That same angelic army will appear suddenly again to accompany the almighty Lord at his second coming on the Last Day. The Savior will appear to give us a share in his resurrection.  We will join the angels in singing glory to God in the highest, because of his gift of peace on earth that will have no end.