The hidden presence of Jesus among His churches

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Midweek of Advent 3

+  Revelation 1:9-20  +

What was it Jesus told His disciples before He ascended into heaven? Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Or earlier: Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them. That’s what Jesus promised. That’s what He said, that He is in the midst of His believers when they are gathered together in His name. So it must be true. Even here, even now, before His coming at the end of the age, Jesus says He is with us, among us as Christians who are gathered together in His name. But it’s hidden from our sight. It sure looks like—and often it sure feels like—we’re on our own. It must have looked the same way to the suffering churches at the end of the first century. But for a little while, on the island of Patmos, the hidden reality was uncovered for St. John to see. That is, after all, the meaning of the word Revelation: the uncovering of a hidden reality. In our ongoing review of the book of Revelation, tonight’s reading reveals to us the hidden presence of Jesus among His churches.

Listen first to how John describes himself as he writes to the churches of God: I am both your brother and your companion in the tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. Now, he’s writing specifically to the seven nearby churches in Asia Minor as a true companion of their, someone who was living at the same time, in the same area, and who was going through the same kinds of things. We, today, aren’t exactly John’s companions. But we are all his brothers and sisters in Christ, believers in the same Lord, heirs of the same salvation. And we all have much in common as we live under the cross of tribulation, as beloved subjects of Christ’s kingdom, and as we patiently endure the sufferings of this world, just as Jesus did on earth, and as we patiently await the promised coming of Christ and the promised Paradise with Christ when He comes.

As for the vision John saw, he says he heard a loud voice, commanding him to write down the vision and send it to the seven churches. Then he turned around to see the voice, and the first thing he saw was seven golden lampstands. At the end of the vision, the lampstands are identified for us as symbols of the seven churches to which John was writing.

Again, while the number seven here refers literally to those seven churches, that perfect number seven is symbolic of all Christians churches in this whole New Testament period. But what is the significance of symbolizing them with lampstands?

The lampstand God instructed Moses to make for the tabernacle and temple had seven little lamps on it—one on top of the “trunk,” if you will, and three branches coming off the trunk on each side. It stood in the Temple, in the Holy Place, alongside the two tables with the 12 loaves of showbread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel.

The lampstand also represented the church of Israel, one giant congregation. They were to have the light of faith ever burning and the fire of love ever blazing, one lampstand in the world as a beacon of light placed in the midst of the rest of the nations, which were shrouded in darkness and ignorance of the true God. The lampstand was to stand within the Holy Place of the temple, in front of the presence of God, who “dwelled” symbolically right next to the lampstand, though still on the other side of the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

But now, in the New Testament, instead of one lampstand, one giant church in the world where God was present to reveal His Word, to hear, and to forgive, there are now seven lampstands, which represent the whole number of churches, gatherings of Christians throughout the world, in the midst of every nation, with the light of faith ever burning and the fire of love ever blazing, with the light of the Gospel ever penetrating the darkness, with Christians letting our light so shine before men that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven.

In the midst of the seven lampstands, one who was like a son of man, clothed with a garment reaching down to his feet, his chest girded with a golden sash. The lampstand in the temple was separated from God’s presence by that curtain. Meanwhile, the priests were to be continually attending to the lampstand, to make sure it never ran out of oil, to make sure the lamps always stayed lit. But now that Christ has died for the sins of the world, there is no longer a curtain separating the people of God from God Himself. That curtain was torn in two when Jesus died. And so Jesus, the perfect High Priest, the Son of Man and the Son of God, walks right there among the lampstands. His clothing, in John’s vision, resembles the priestly garments of the Old Testament, showing Him to be our great High Priest who personally tends to the lampstands, making sure that each church, wherever it is, receives exactly what it needs.

His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. This is like the vision of the Ancient of Days that Daniel saw: I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. That was a picture of God the Father, but here it represents the Son of Man, who is, according to the book of Hebrews, the exact representation of the Father’s Being. His divinity and His eternal nature are being highlighted here, along with His wisdom.

His eyes were like a flame of fire. That’s a symbol of His omniscience, as His eyes burn right through to our hearts, so that He sees the ugliness of sin there, but also faith where it exists, which covers up sin and is counted for righteousness to all who believe. As it says in Hebrews 4, there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

His feet were like bronze, as though fired in a furnace. He is able to crush His enemies under His feet, as it says about the Messiah in Psalm 110, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.

And his voice was like the sound of many waters. If you’ve ever stood at the foot of a waterfall, or on the seashore as the tide comes crashing in, or even if you’ve heard the sound of rainwater pouring off the roof, you have some idea what the sound of many waters is. It’s overwhelming. You can’t really talk over it. It drowns out every other sound. Such is the voice of Jesus when He insists on being heard. Such is the voice of Jesus when He has an urgent message for His churches.

He had in his right hand seven stars. Those stars, one for each of the seven lampstands, are identified as the “angels,” that is the divinely appointed messengers (or ministers) of the seven churches. They’re symbolized by stars, because they shine with the light of the Word of God.

This is important. Jesus walks among the churches, but He doesn’t minister to them directly. He doesn’t speak into the ear or into the heart of His Christians. He speaks through His appointed messengers. Jesus holds the ministers in His hand. He is the one who sends them, who places each one with the appropriate lampstand, again, emphasizing that Christ has always intended for His Christians to be served by pastors whom He has sent and set in place through the divine call of the Church. But even as He sends them, He continues to hold them in His hand. He is the one who governs what they preach, who defends and upholds them against all sorts of illegitimate criticisms and attacks, and who will hold them responsible for faulty teaching or a wicked life.

And out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. As it says in Hebrews 4, For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intents of the heart.

His face was like the sun shining at its brightest, as John had seen Him once before, at the Transfiguration. Divinity was His during His state of humiliation on earth, but it was hidden under His humble flesh. Now John is given another revelation of the hidden reality.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. And he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, Fear not; I am the first and the last and the Living One. I was dead, and, behold, I am alive forevermore. Again, very similar to what happened at the Transfiguration, or what happened to Isaiah when he saw the Lord in a vision. To see God in His glory is too much for any mortal, especially because we’re sinners who can’t stand in His presence. But Jesus comforts John and us. Fear not, He says. I am Jesus who died for your sins and who was raised to life for your justification. I live forever, and (as John recorded in His Gospel), because I live, you also will live.

And I have the keys of hell and of death. “Hell can’t take you, death can’t hold you, unless I give them permission. So don’t worry about what men may do to you or say about you. Don’t worry about any danger you may face in this world. Just cling to Me in repentance and faith,” Jesus says. As Jesus said once to Martha as she grieved her brother’s death, He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And he who lives and believes in Me will never die.

This is the one who walks among the lampstands, true God and true Man, the same Jesus who became our Brother, who died for our sins and who came back to life. John’s Revelation reveals the hidden reality, that this Jesus is present in the midst of all His churches throughout the world, inspecting, tending, shepherding, defending, teaching, governing, guiding, and warning, and doing it all through messengers whom He holds in His hand. We don’t see Him, but we aren’t supposed to. We’re supposed to believe in what we don’t see but in what has been revealed to us by His Word: that Jesus reigns as God and Lord in the midst of His holy Church, scattered though it is throughout the world, and composed of all the individual churches that still confess His Gospel and use His holy Sacraments. Truly He is with us always, until the end of the age.

But if that’s true, then let us also be courageous Christians, as those who know that Christ our God is right here in our midst, tending to us through the ministry of the Word. Let us be bold to confess Him before men, not denying or concealing any of the truth revealed in Holy Scripture. And let us also lead holy lives of repentance, obedience, and love, as those who believe that our hearts and our deeds lie open, at all times, before Him who walks among the lampstands. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Wednesday, December 14th

Posted on December 14, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Luke 12:35-39

35 “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; 36 and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. 38 And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

“Watch, therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Advent is a time for watchfulness, repentance, faith, and prayer.  Throughout these weeks leading up to Christmas we are steadily focused on nearly everything that the world around us ignores.  But unlike the world, we don’t rush into Christmas right after Halloween, or even before. There are still some important things to consider as we resist blowing through or forgetting about Advent altogether. We are reminded of our Lord’s second and final Coming, and that when He comes, He will usher His Bride, the Church, into eternity with Him, and relegate all unbelievers to the eternal damnation they have chosen.

The Christian’s watchfulness, therefore, is not about himself, but about Christ as He is the one who strengthens and keeps us in the one true faith.  Never forget what Christ has done for you.  He has placed a label on you, and that label says “You are worth My body broken and blood shed on the cross.  You are so very precious to Me that I gave My life for you, paid for all your sins, and I give you My promise of eternal life in heaven.  I want you in heaven with Me and I have given you My Word and Sacraments to sustain you until I call you Home.”

So, listen to Jesus.  Watch, and keep watching.  Receive Jesus in all the ways He wants you to have Him.  The Bridegroom will come soon enough.  And, by watching and using the means God provides, you will be prepared to join the joyful wedding procession into the great heavenly hall where your joy will have no end.

Let us pray: Lord, we pray You, give ear to our prayers and lighten the darkness of our hearts by Your gracious visitation; who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

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Each Day in the Word, Tuesday, December 13th

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Luke 21:5-24

5 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, 6 “These things which you see—the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down.”

7 So they asked Him, saying, “Teacher, but when will these things be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”

8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. 9 But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”

10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. 13 But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. 14 Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head shall be lost. 19 By your patience possess your souls.

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

As we know, the season of Advent is intended not only as a time of repentance, but also a time to focus on Christ’s second and final coming. And our readings this week do not disappoint.

Luke writes about the signs of the times and the end of the age. When Jesus’ disciples asked their Teacher about when the end would take place, He made it abundantly clear that His followers were to look for false Christs, nation rising against nation, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, persecution of Christians, betrayals by unbelieving family members, hatred by all unbelievers, and even death. Those are hardly the things that would make anyone jump up and say, “Hey, sign me up!” On the contrary, those things are quite off-putting.

But our Lord Jesus is not like any of those happy-clappy prosperity preachers of our day who look you in the eye and lie about the challenges of being a Christian.  They speak of a happy life here and that, even in this life, everything will be all right.  Not so our Lord; He gives it to us straight.  He does not lie.

But along with the harsh truth of the difficulties of holding fast to the one true faith here in this life, Jesus elsewhere in Scripture promises His presence, His peace, and His strength as we battle on to the end.  He promises always to be with us, and the particular ways that He is with us are through His Gospel and Absolution preached into our ears and His Holy gifts of Baptism and Supper which are put upon us and in us.  Through these means Christ takes up residence in us, calls us His own children, and gives us His strength to bear up until we are called Home to the life of the world to come.

So, End Times, do your best!  No matter, for Christ has defeated death and hell for us and will take us to be with Him in eternity.

Let us pray:  Come, Lord Jesus!  Amen.

 

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Each Day in the Word, Monday, December 12th

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Tom and Karen Klumb

Hebrews 10:35-39

35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

37 “For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
My soul has no pleasure in him.”

39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

The writer to the Hebrews exhorts his hearers not to “cast away your confidence, which has a great reward.” A Christian has a confidence that can only come from the certain fact of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection for all mankind.  We are confident of His work for us – that He has paid for all our sins in His own body on the tree of the cross.  We are confident of His love for us shown in that same horrid suffering and death.  We are confident that we too will rise on the last Day and have our bodies remade and reunited with our souls to be with our Lord forever in heaven where there will be no more sin, sickness, suffering, sadness, or death.  Being with Christ in heaven at the end of all things will be the greatest reward we could ever know.

In the meantime, we need endurance in order that we may indeed receive this great reward.  Of course, we have no endurance of ourselves. If left to our own devices, we would fail miserably to keep the faith; we would perish eternally for our sins and never enjoy the bliss and glory of heaven.

For that endurance, we look to Hebrews 12:1-2: “1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus, therefore, is our endurance. He who is coming again has given us the gift of faith to believe in His work for us, and by that same faith has justified us and made us right with Him. We stand firm in Christ and will be with Him forever in sinlessness and glory.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your great love and forgiveness. As we struggle in this life, keep us faithful to You so that we may be with You forever. Amen.

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The right expectations for Christ’s advent

Posted on December 11, 2022 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for Advent 3 – Gaudete

1 Corinthians 4:1-5  +  Matthew 11:2-10

Advent is a season that reminds us to wait eagerly for the coming of Christ, to expect His coming at any time. But it’s important to have the right expectations, so that we’re waiting for the right things, so that we know what to expect from Jesus and from the Christian life of following Jesus—and what not to expect. To have the right expectations for Christ’s advent.

It seems that John the Baptist wasn’t sure as he sat in prison, wasn’t sure anymore what to expect from Jesus, because Jesus wasn’t doing the things John expected. And because of that, he began to wonder if Jesus really was the One who fit the Old Testament prophecies—and his own prophecies! —about the coming Christ. So John did the right thing. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus the question. And the answer he received served not only him, but us, too, so that we aren’t deceived, so that we have the right expectations for Christ’s advent, and for what this time of waiting holds for us who are waiting.

John was in King Herod’s prison. For what? For doing what God sent him to do: to show the people of Israel the sins for which they needed to repent so that they were ready for the Christ to come. In the course of showing King Herod his sin—the sin of adultery, in taking his brother’s wife to be his own wife while his brother still lived—John was branded a threat to society and was thrown in prison, where he would eventually be put to death. Meanwhile, Herod still lives in adultery. The Romans still rule over and oppress the Jewish people. Sickness remains. Poverty remains. Wickedness remains. Death remains. And it’s looking more and more like Jesus isn’t going to do anything about it.

Remember what John preached about Jesus, what he expected Him to do: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Where was the baptizing with fire? Where was the winnowing fan? Where was the gathering of wheat—the rescuing of believers? Where was the burning up of the chaff—the destruction of the wicked?

Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing? Where is the justice that the Christ was supposed to bring? Where is the peace on earth that the angels proclaimed? Why is there so much injustice? Why are the wicked and the false teachers allowed to prosper? Why is the true Church allowed to suffer? Those are not bad questions, especially in light of the Old Testament, which told of a Christ whose advent would make everything right.

So what’s the answer to all those questions, and to the most poignant question of all, the one John put to Jesus: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect another?

You’ve asked the question. Now, listen to the answer! Go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not stumble over me.

Yes, the Old Testament spoke of a Messiah who would rule and reign, who would come in glory and might to judge the earth, to bring peace to His people and destruction to His enemies. But it also spoke of a Messiah who would come in meekness and humility, who would come with healing, who would come preaching good news to the poor, the good news of the forgiveness of sins—things that John’s disciples could see with their own eyes and hear with their own ears in the words and works of Jesus. And the Old Testament also spoke of a Messiah who would allow Himself to be rejected by His enemies, who would suffer and die for the sins of His people. And the Old Testament also spoke of a time of gathering—gathering both Jews and Gentiles into the kingdom of the Messiah. All this was what the Jews were to be expecting from the promised Christ.

The only questions is, when would all these things happen and in what order? Well, we have the benefit of hindsight, don’t we? A benefit John the Baptist didn’t have. Or anyone in the world, really, until after Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection took place. Then they could understand a little better, and, almost two thousand years later, we can understand better still.

The Messiah would come twice: once in humility, to preach and teach, to suffer and die; then the Messiah would come back to life, send out preachers of His good news, and ascend into heaven, where He would sit down at the Father’s right hand and rule as King in an unseen way; during that time, which we call the New Testament period, there would be a gathering, a gathering of Jews and Gentiles into the Messiah’s unseen kingdom.

It was okay for John not to understand all that ahead of time. What was required of him was not perfect understanding of God’s plan. What was required of him was simply faith that Jesus was the promised Christ, as his words and works clearly testified, and faith that, as the Christ, Jesus knew what He was doing.

Blessed is he who does not stumble over me. Those were Jesus’ last words that He instructed John’s disciples to take back to him in prison. In other words, everything you preached about Me was right and true. I am the promised Messiah. You’ve been trusting in Me so far. You’ve almost reached the finish line, John. Don’t trip over the things you can’t understand about how I’m carrying out My ministry. Just trust Me, and you will be counted among the blessed.

At that point, Jesus sent John’s disciples away, back to John. But to the crowds who were there, who heard this exchange, He had more to say. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? No, what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft clothing? See, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. No, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ What were the people’s expectations for John? Did they think that, because he ended up in prison, he was rejected by God? That, because things were turning out badly for him, he must not be a true prophet? They probably did think that, although the examples of the Old Testament prophets should have taught them the opposite. But people do that all the time. Things go badly. Christians suffer. And they conclude that God must have abandoned them.

Not so, Jesus says. Remember, you went out into the wilderness to hear John preach. You saw how he dressed, in camel skin clothing, with long hair that had never been cut. You didn’t go out to hear a fancy speaker, or a successfully businessman. You went out to hear him, because you acknowledged that he was prophet sent from God, and that’s exactly what he was. Now remember how the prophets have always been treated, how they have always lived, how they have always preached. John’s suffering and hardships should not be a sign to you that he is rejected by God. It should help to confirm that he is truly is a prophet sent by God, because this is how the prophets have usually been treated.

But, Jesus says, John is even more than “a” prophet. He is “the” prophet whose coming was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah, who had the most special task ever given to any prophet: to prepare the people for the imminent arrival—the imminent advent—of the Christ! In other words, John had completed his mission. And now the people were to focus all their attention on the One to whom John had pointed them: to Jesus, the Christ who had finally come, who would do all the things that were prophesied about Him in the Old Testament, which included suffering and dying for the sins of mankind, to make things right between sinners and God, and then rising again, sending out preachers of the Gospel, gathering His Church from among the nations, and then coming again in glory to make all things right, with condemnation for the impenitent, and with perfect salvation for those who believed in His name.

So what should our expectations be for Christ’s advent? We should expect the same things. Not the suffering and dying, but the sending, and the gathering, and then, finally, the coming again in glory. And, yes, while we wait for that coming again, the Church will suffer many things, Christians will endure many hardships, and preachers will be mistreated and rejected by the world. But don’t stumble over those things. Don’t stumble over the wisdom of God or over His plan for you and for the world, even if you can’t understand it or see how it is all being carried out for your good. You’ve heard the words and works of Christ. You’ve seen His grace toward you, in having His Gospel preached to you and in seeing to it that you were carried to the waters of Holy Baptism. You’ve received, in His Sacrament, the very body and blood that were given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Now trust Him to work everything else out, too, in these last days before His second advent. And expect that, when He comes (and not before!), all things will be made right. Amen.

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