A vision to help you die

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Transfiguration of Our Lord

2 Peter 1:16-21  +  Matthew 17:1-9

We spent the month of January studying all kinds of Epiphanies—revelations of Jesus’ hidden divinity. Today we end the season with the greatest of all Epiphanies: with the vision God gave to Peter, James, and John, the Transfiguration of Jesus before their very eyes, a vision which was to be covered up for a while, until after Jesus’ resurrection, and then published broadly in three of the Gospels and referenced in St. Peter’s Second Epistle, so that the Church of all ages might learn a very important lesson from it. Just as each of the other Epiphanies we considered also had a lesson to teach, giving us something to believe or something to do, so also this Great Epiphany of the Transfiguration has a practical purpose for us all. It helps us to do what we all have to do, sooner or later. It’s a vision to help you die.

All three Gospels tie the Transfiguration to what happened about one week earlier. “After six days,” Matthew says. What happened six days earlier? Well, six days earlier Jesus had asked His twelve disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They gave Him all sorts of strange answers: John the Baptist returned from the dead! Elijah! Jeremiah! Or another Old Testament prophet! Jesus put the question to them: “Who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!” And Jesus said, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And then He began to explain to them that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. And Peter said, No! No! That won’t happen to you! And Jesus said, “Get behind Me Satan!” And then He said the words that really help explain the purpose of the Transfiguration: If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. In other words, in order to follow Me, you have to die. Willingly.

After six days, with those words still ringing in their ears, Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus up the mountain. Those three were often the three disciples whom Jesus took along without the rest. Why those three? We could come up with reasons, but I think the most important thing is that it wasn’t all twelve disciples. It didn’t need to be all twelve. Not everyone needs to see the Transfiguration of Jesus with their eyes in order to be helped by it. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every matter be established.”

And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. All the other Epiphanies in Jesus’ life up to this point had been wondrous events in the life of Jesus or miraculous deeds done by Jesus, so that, although no one could see His hidden divinity, they could know it was there from the signs pointing to it. This vision on the mountain was the great exception. There, for a moment, they could see with their eyes what they had come to believe with hearts and confess with their mouths: that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. And it was glorious!

Also glorious was the appearance of two Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah, Old Testament saints who had lived a hard life of service to God, who had been at times loved, but more often hated, not only by the world, but also by those who were supposed to be God’s people. Each of them had learned ahead of time what it meant to die to himself so that he might live for God and with God. Each of them was an example of those who had “lost” their earthly lives for God’s sake, only to find a life that’s even better. Moses represents the saints who gave up everything and then died in faith, and yet, here he is! Alive and well in the presence of Jesus. Elijah represents the saints who gave up everything and yet didn’t literally have to die, since, you recall, Elijah was taken up to heaven alive in a fiery chariot. And yet, here he is, standing in the presence of Jesus! No better off and no worse off than Moses. Losing your life for Jesus’ sake may mean literally dying in order to be faithful to Him. Or it may not mean literally dying, but instead, being willing to lose everything in order to gain Him.

What were Moses and Elijah doing there with Jesus on the mountain? Mark tells us they were talking with Jesus. Luke tells us what they were talking about. About His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Literally, about His “exodus,” the Greek word for departure, here referring to His own departure from this life. How fitting! Who better to talk with about your impending death than people who had already made an exodus from this life, who had already died and yet lived to tell about it? Now, Jesus knew very well that the deceased are not truly dead. But it would be good for Peter, James, and John to see with their eyes what they believed in their hearts. It would be good for them to hear someone besides Jesus talking about how He would soon suffer and die, because, you remember, Peter didn’t believe it one week earlier when Jesus had told him. It will be good for us to hear about this God-given example of life after death, of life and glory after bearing the cross and losing your life for Jesus’ sake.

The glory and peace and safety of that life were so compelling, so attractive to Peter that he wanted it to last forever. Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Mark tells us, Peter didn’t know what to say; all three disciples were so afraid. But you can relate to Peter, I think. We always want the peace and safety and comfort to last. It always seems good to us, and we’re thankful for the moments of peace and safety and comfort God gives. But you’re not supposed to hold onto it. You’re not supposed to cling to it. You’re supposed to give thanks to God for it while it lasts, and then be ready to let it go, which, sometimes, may even feel like dying.

Before Peter could latch onto the vision too tightly, God the Father interrupted him. While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!

This is the second time we’ve heard God the Father speak these words about Jesus. The first time was at His Baptism. That means nothing Jesus has said or done since His Baptism has been sinful. Nothing has been misguided or wrong. Including all His preaching against sin. Including His predictions of His own imminent suffering for the sins of mankind on the cross. Including the forgiveness of sins which Jesus has pronounced on everyone who believes in Him. Including His insistence that all who follow Him must also deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, even to death.

Hear Him!, is the Father’s prescription for us. We all have a lot of distractions in our lives. We all have things we’d like to hold onto, to keep at all costs, along with a sinful nature that will not die willingly. And we have a world around us that’s filled with the devil’s lies and the devil’s hatred of all things good. Hear Him!, the Father says. Hear Jesus! Don’t second-guess Him. Hear Him! Don’t deny Him. Hear Him! Don’t live for yourself and for an earthly paradise. Hear Him! He is the beloved Son of God. In Him the Father is well pleased. And if you are found hearing Him now, if you are found in Him by faith at the end of your earthly life, then you, too, have the assurance that God the Father is well pleased in you, too.

After the vision of the Transfiguration was over, Jesus warned His three disciples not to reveal it to anyone until after He was raised from the dead. That means that this vision was meant to be told, meant to be celebrated. It’s a vision meant for the Church to ponder, and to use. We can only imagine how this vision, together with the rest of the Word of Christ, helped the countless Christians who faced torture and imprisonment and death in the coming years, as they were forced to choose between holding onto their earthly lives or holding onto Jesus.

So you, too. Dig in. Bear the cross. Face death bravely. This is what awaits you, if you would follow Christ: Death and then life. Your future is secure. Your glory is guaranteed. So scorn the world. Deny yourself. Speak up for true Christian, catholic doctrine and invite people to your little, not-very-glorious church. Speak up against abortion and against the LGBT madness, with your voice and with your votes! Choose a career that glorifies God and serves your neighbor and work in it with all your might. Form a family and keep your family centered around God and His word. And be ready to suffer for it. Deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow. Follow Jesus first into God’s favor, through faith, and then, through toil, through tribulation, through sacrifice, through self-denial, through persecution, through losing everything on earth, through death itself, follow Him into the real and lasting Paradise. It’ll be there. God has promised. And the resurrection of Christ is the guarantee. He’s given you a brief vision of it today. If you use it, this vision will help you die. But more importantly, it will help you to live as a cross-bearer, following in the steps of THE Cross-Bearer, until you reach the glory He has promised at the end of the road. Amen.

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A God who is a very present help

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Third Sunday after Epiphany

Romans 12:16-21  +  Matthew 8:1-13

Early in His ministry, Jesus sat on the mountain, preaching to His disciples. He looked like any preacher with a large following. He sounded like any other preacher, except for the surprising authority with which He declared the Word of God, as if He weren’t just a teacher of it, but the Author of it. But when He comes down from the mountain, Jesus revealed His hidden divinity with two particular healing miracles.

Now, all of Jesus’ miracles are epiphanies; they all reveal His hidden divinity; they’re all evidence that He is not just a great man or a great teacher, but evidence that He is God. But most miracles and miracle accounts reveal something else about this God/Man, too. We certainly see that in the two miracles in today’s Gospel. Not only do we see the divine power and authority of God walking the earth. We see also God’s willingness and readiness to help all who come to Him for help, whether poor or powerful, whether Jew or Gentile. And hearing, in turn, about that readiness and willingness of Jesus to help is what inspires and kindles faith in our hearts, which is the very thing needed in order to be helped by Jesus. Let’s see how this plays out in the Gospel.

A leper—a man “full of leprosy,” according to Luke’s account—had heard the word of Jesus’ kindness and power. So as soon as Jesus was done preaching the Sermon on the Mount, the leper approached Him, knelt down before Him, and prayed a perfect prayer: Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this miracle, and they all record it the same—with the same need, the same prayer, the same reaching out and touching the leper in compassion, and the same answer, I am willing. Be cleansed.

It’s all important. The great faith of the leper who got down on his knees and simply confessed Jesus’ power to cleanse him, without insisting that Jesus just had to heal him, because he deserved it or something. No, simply, if You are willing, You can, leaving everything up to Jesus’ will and grace. Jesus’ simple act of reaching out and touching the man is important, too. Imagine a filthy, dirty, smelly, diseased person, full of open sores, kneeling at your feet. You would probably shrink back. Jesus didn’t. He reached out and touched the man. That’s God’s compassion toward us. And it’s contagious.

I was just reading this week in Eusebius’ church history about a terrible plague that broke out in Alexandria in the third century. It affected everyone, including the Christians. But Dionysius of Alexandria tells how the Christians treated one another. They tended to their sick, cared for them, picked up their dead bodies and dressed them and buried them properly. And many got sick as they cared for their fellow Christians. But they viewed it almost as a kind of martyrdom, willingly risking getting the plague and dying if it meant helping their brothers and sisters in Christ. The pagans, on the other hand, did what I think we would be tempted to do. At the first sign of sickness, they abandoned their loved ones, stayed far away from them in order to save themselves, and shoved them out onto the street, even before they were dead. Now, where did the Christians learn such compassion and willingness to help one another? Of course, they learned it from Jesus, and specifically, from His treatment of the leper in today’s Gospel.

Jesus’ verbal response is just as important. I am willing. Be cleansed. Just this past week, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was in the news for saying this: “I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell.” Mr. Rodgers thinks he’s referring to the God of the Bible, but honestly, I don’t know what Bible he’s reading. God doesn’t want to condemn anyone to a fiery hell, much less “most of the planet.” What God wants, what God wills, is our healing, is to forgive us our sins, is to give us heaven as a free gift. And He sent His Son into the world to reveal just that, His willingness that wretched sinners be cleansed, not condemned. But there can be no cleansing of the sick if the patient refuses to acknowledge his disease, and if the patient refuses to trust in the Doctor for the cure.

But the leper in the Gospel trusted and was immediately cleansed, as in, made physically whole and healthy. Still, there was another cleansing that still had to happen. Jesus told the man, See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them. If you read what Moses required for the ceremonial cleansing of a leper in Leviticus 14, it was quite an involved process. In fact, one wonders just how many lepers actually had to go through this process, since there was no known cure for leprosy. But even if a leper’s skin sores went away, he still was not automatically clean before God. He still needed to wash his clothes and himself, shave off all his hair, wait 7 days. Then he needed to provide sacrifices—up to three sheep or lambs, if he could afford it, plus a pair of birds. The priest had to follow an elaborate cleansing right to make atonement for the man, even though he was now clean. Blood and oil to be sprinkled on him and smeared on him, etc. (You can read it for yourselves.) The message was clear: Even a cleansed person still needs the ongoing cleansing of Christ.

You all were made clean in Holy Baptism. Your sins were forgiven there. You were made a child of God—clean in conscience and in status. But you weren’t needing cleansing when you were baptized. You still carry around a sinful nature. You still need the ongoing cleansing that God provides in the Gospel and in the Sacrament of the Altar. And you still need the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work in your life, so that your attitudes and actions become just as clean as your status before God.

The leper in our Gospel was clean, but, as a Jew who was under the Law of Moses, he still had a Law of Moses to fulfill, not only because God had commanded it, but also as a testimony to the priests—as a testimony that Jesus can cleanse what no one else can cleanse, and as a testimony to what Jesus had just said during the Sermon on the Mount, that He hadn’t come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. So also no one can come to Jesus for the healing of forgiveness and then just go off and turn his back on the word of God. When you’re forgiven, you’re then instructed to walk according to God’s commandments.

Such was Jesus’ treatment of the leper who was a natural son of Israel. What would His treatment be of those who were not natural sons of Israel? We see that in the second part of our Gospel.

The Roman centurion living in Israel had also heard the word about Jesus and had come to trust in Him. His servant was sick, so he came to Jesus for help. Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented. Notice, he doesn’t even ask Jesus to do anything. He just presents the need and then waits.

He doesn’t have to wait long. Jesus immediately offers His help: I will come and heal him. Notice, the centurion hasn’t explained to Jesus how he deserves His help. He hasn’t offered to pay. Jesus is ready and willing to help entirely for free, not on the basis of payment, not on the basis of the man’s worthiness, but just out of pure grace. But the centurion has more faith to reveal. He tells Jesus not to come! Not to come, because he, the centurion, isn’t worthy to have Jesus come. It’ll be enough if Jesus just speaks the word, because the centurion understands how authority works. A commander of an army doesn’t have to be in the room with the troops in order to give them an order. He can write it down. He can speak an order and have it passed along to the troops, and they have to obey. The thing is, the centurion is here confessing a lot about Jesus, that He is the very God who speaks, and all of nature, including the body of every person on earth, must obey.

Jesus was astonished by the faith of this Gentile who had never even met Jesus, as far as we know. His faith had simply come from hearing the word, and it was a faith so firm and so great that Jesus says He hadn’t even found such faith in Israel. And He speaks the word the centurion sought and heals the man’s servant immediately. As you have believed, so let it be done for you. He shows that He is ready and willing to help anyone who comes to Him for help, who believes in Him for help, whether poor or powerful, whether Jew or Gentile.

There’s a final lesson that Jesus teaches here, though, and the world had better listen. And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

As Jesus reveals His hidden divinity in these miracles, He reveals the awesome significance of it: If Jesus is God, then Jesus is the one who determines who will sit with Him, and with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in His heavenly kingdom. If Jesus is God, then you must believe in Him. And all who do, whether Jew or Gentile, will sit at the heavenly banquet with Him. But all who don’t believe in Him will find themselves locked outside, cast out into outer darkness, even if they started out as members of God’s kingdom.

So as God reveals Himself to you again today as the One who is ready and willing to help all who come to Him, be sure you don’t foolishly stay away from Him, or doubt His word, or disbelieve His willingness and ability to help, to cleanse, to forgive, to sanctify, and to save. The truth about Jesus is exactly what you see from Him in today’s Gospel, where He shows Himself to be the very God of Psalm 46, the God who is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Amen.

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A Prophet like Moses, but better

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Second Sunday after Epiphany

Romans 12:6-16  +  John 2:1-11

About 1500 years before Jesus was born, Moses stood at the border of the Promised Land and prophesied His coming: The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear. More than any other writer in the New Testament, the Apostle John brings out the comparison between Moses and Jesus, the Prophet who was like Moses, but infinitely better.

John spells out the comparison already in chapter 1 of his Gospel: For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. But there are many more comparisons that we can draw just from the Gospel of John. For example…Moses gave the people of Israel the Word of God; Jesus came to the people of Israel as the Word of God made flesh. Moses wrote about the creation of the world; Jesus participated in the creation of the world. Moses wrote about how God created the light that lightens the world; Jesus came into the world as the true Light that lightens all men. Moses gave the people the sacrificial lamb; Jesus gave Himself for the people as the sacrificial Lamb. Moses lifted up the bronze serpent, so that whoever looked at it would be healed; Jesus is the One who has been lifted up, so that everyone who looks to Him in faith will be saved from the ancient serpent’s bite. Moses, by God’s power, gave the people of Israel bread from heaven; Jesus is the true Bread from heaven, the living bread that sustains any who eat of it. Moses, by God’s power, took a rock and gave the people water in the wilderness; Jesus, by His own power, took stone jars filled with water and gave them wine at a wedding.

Since that’s the subject of our Gospel today, let’s focus on that event and consider what hidden truth is revealed about Jesus at this little Epiphany, at this revelation of Jesus as the Prophet like Moses, but better.

Since we left Him last week as a 12-yr-old Boy, Jesus remained mostly hidden until He was about 30 years old. There was that Epiphany of His hidden divinity at His Baptism, when God the Father spoke from heaven and the Holy Spirit descended on Him as a dove. Then there was a secret struggle in the wilderness for 40 days, where Jesus fasted and was tempted by Satan. Then back to the Jordan, where John the Baptist is responsible for another revelation: Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! Jesus immediately calls His first disciples: Peter, Andrew; Nathanael & Philip, reveals a tiny bit of His divine omniscience to Nathanael. Then up to Galilee with His new disciples, to the little town of Cana, not far from Nazareth, for a wedding.

Let’s stop and consider just that for a moment. A wedding reception hardly seems like the best place to begin teaching His new disciples and revealing His divinity and His mission to them, but it’s the beginning that Jesus chose. What does that reveal? It reveals, first of all, His approval of marriage as an institution of God that still pleases God to this day. He would later remind the Jews of that when they were looking eagerly for an excuse to break up marriages in divorce: Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.

You remember who first told us that God “made them male and female” in the beginning and brought husband and wife together? Yes, it was Moses. Moses wrote about God’s institution of marriage between Adam and Eve; Jesus brought about and attended Adam’s & Eve’s wedding, even as He attended this wedding banquet and honored it with His presence. So He still commands that marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure. And He promises to bless husband and wife as the husband loves the wife, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for her; as the wife submits to her husband as the Church submits to Christ.

Back to our Gospel. Jesus’ mother Mary was also invited to the wedding and seemed to have some serving role at the reception, making some wonder if maybe she and Jesus were related to the bride and groom. At some point, they ran out of wine, or were beginning to run out; it’s hard to tell from the text. Mary approaches Jesus and says, They have no wine. Why does she tell Him? We have no evidence that He has ever performed a miracle before. But He has now begun His public ministry. He’s brought His first disciples along with Him to the wedding. She’s waiting. She knows that He hasn’t come into the world just to lead an ordinary life. So she’s expecting that He will do something extraordinary at some point, and she’s hoping He’ll do a favor for the bride and groom. Maybe now? Here’s Your chance, Jesus?

His reply is rather harsh, isn’t it? Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? From that reply, we can gather two things. First, that Mary had overstepped. After 30 years of speaking to Jesus as a mother to her Son, she had to learn a new place for herself: Not as an authority over Jesus, but as a subject in His kingdom; not as a mother to her Son, teaching Him, giving advice, exerting influence, but as a beloved disciple who was there to learn from Jesus. His reply is a gentle rebuke to her: Don’t involve yourself in My office as Christ.

Secondly, with that reply Jesus left a warning for future generations not to raise Mary to the role of mediatrix or intercessor. One old graphic of this text from John 2 is entitled, “Mary intercedes at a wedding.” Many Christians, influenced by the devil himself, have gone astray, imagining that Mary has a special role at Jesus’ side, even now, that she has special influence with Him, as a mother to her Son. But they should have paid better attention to this text. Mary is like any other believer in Christ, who has every right to approach Him, but no special influence over and above what others have. This text serves as a rebuke toward those who would pray to Mary so that she can then pray to Jesus on their behalf. That’s not how it works in the kingdom of Christ.

The second part of Jesus’ reply also takes some thought: My hour has not yet come. Later in John’s Gospel, He refers to His hour as having finally come: the hour of His greatest Epiphany, the revelation of God in Jesus’ humiliation on the cross, the revelation that God loved the world that much, that He would give His only Son into death for our sins. That was His real “hour,” the chief thing He came to do. It wasn’t to provide wine at a wedding. It was to provide His blood as a sacrifice.

But a little Epiphany here at the wedding would still be given. Mary guesses as much, because she tells the servants to do whatever He says. He said to fill the six stone water pots to the brim. We’re told they held 20-30 gallons each, so they had to be much bigger than the drawing on the cover of our service folder, and probably stood in a fixed place on the floor. Then He told them to draw from the water they had poured into the jars and take it to the master of the feast, the wedding planner of that time, who tasted the water that had become wine and was a little upset with the bridegroom for saving the best till last.

Do you remember what Moses’ first miracle was in the sight of all Egypt, the first plague that God brought against Egypt for their failure to obey Moses? It was the changing of water into blood; Jesus’ first miracle in the sight of His disciples was the changing of water into wine. A gift to the newlyweds and to all their guests. A sign, as John calls it, revealing His glory to His disciples. A sign to us that this Prophet like Moses did not come to destroy sinners, to bring God’s plagues against sinners, but to save them, and to give them life to the fullest and reason to rejoice.

And when He comes to us in Word and Sacrament and calls us into His kingdom, He calls us to live differently from the world, but not separately from the world. He doesn’t call us to renounce marriage and wedding receptions and wine. He calls us, not to leave the world, but to be the salt and the light of the world. St. Paul ran off a list in today’s Epistle of simple behaviors that Christians are to follow in the world. Were you listening? Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

In some ways, that sounds a lot like Moses and the long list of laws he gave to the people of Israel. But in other ways, it’s much different. Moses was sent to make a covenant of obedience with the people of Israel. Obey, and God will be your God and bless you. Jesus was sent to make a covenant of the forgiveness of sins. Not, obey, and you will be forgiven, or, bring a sacrifice, and you will be forgiven, but trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and for the sake of His obedience and sacrifice, you will be forgiven. And then, starting from that status of being forgiven and well-pleasing to God through faith in Christ, the commands St. Paul issues simply show God’s people how to live as Christians, how to imitate God, how to love one another as Christ has loved us.

Moses changed water into blood. Jesus changed water into wine. But to bring it full circle, Jesus now takes wine and, with it, gives us His blood to drink in a holy Sacrament. Moses gave Israel bread from heaven. Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven, and now gives us His body with the bread of His Supper, to make us one with Him, to feed us with His flesh and blood, for the forgiveness of sins, for the strength to live another day in this chaotic and evil world. Moses accompanied Israel in the wilderness and led them up to the Promised Land, but died before he could lead them into it. Jesus is the Prophet who will not only accompany us in this wilderness, but died and rose from the dead so that He can see us safely across the border of eternal life. That—together with everything else—makes Him a better Prophet than Moses by far. Amen.

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The humility of God at age 12

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for First Sunday after the Epiphany

Romans 12:1-5  +  Luke 2:41-52

Today’s Gospel of the Boy Jesus in the Temple is a foolish waste of time, in the eyes of the world. Christmas was OK; it’s a cute enough story, allows for some celebration. Epiphany itself was fine, with the visit of the wise men following the mysterious star, bringing their exotic gifts. And then, when Jesus is older, the world might find something interesting in His miracles or in His teaching. But what’s the point of dwelling on the behavior of a 12-yr-old boy? How can that possibly affect us here and now?

We Christians just shake our heads at the world’s own foolishness. They don’t understand that we worship that 12-yr-old boy. Literally. We fall down before Him, we kneel before Him, we call Him our God. And for that reason, we long to hear about Him. Everything about Him. (Even if our wretched sinful nature finds it boring or not worth paying attention to.) Yes, He was just a boy, and to Mary and Joseph’s eyes, He never looked like more than a boy, the whole time He was growing up. But sometimes, the divinity of that boy shone through the outward appearance, as it did at the wondrous visit of the wise men, as it did at His Baptism which we considered on Monday evening, as it does again in today’s Gospel. We see tiny rays of His divinity shining through the ordinary appearance.

That’s the first thing I want you to keep your eyes open for as we go through this story. Watch for the signs of Jesus’ divinity shining through, revealing this 12-yr-old boy as God. And second, knowing who He is, watch also for the marks of humility displayed by the Boy who was God.

Let’s walk through the story again. We don’t know exactly what age Jesus was when the holy family moved from Egypt up to Nazareth in Galilee. He was likely no older than two. So for about the past ten years, Mary and Joseph, at least, had been journeying back down to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. About a 65-mile trip each way, as the crow flies. About here to Deming. (On foot, of course.) This time, if not before, Jesus went with them. They traveled as a company of relatives and neighbors from Nazareth. They celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem, and then Mary and Joseph started back, but Jesus wasn’t with them. That’s hard to imagine, but we’re told they thought that Jesus was with some other relatives in their traveling party. After traveling all day, they finally decided to check, and didn’t find Him. So they likely spent the night worrying, then spent the next day traveling back, and then, finally, on the next day, found Jesus sitting in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions, astonishing everyone there with His questions and with His answers.

When they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Did you notice the signs of Jesus’ divinity shining through? We see it, first, in His special zeal to be in His Father’s house, discussing His Father’s Word—zeal that goes beyond even what the most pious believer would have done. Second, we see it in His superior knowledge and understanding of His Father’s Word, even as a boy, which astonished everyone who heard Him. And third, we see it in His own words as reveals that He’s there on “His Father’s business,” which Mary and Joseph didn’t understand at the time, because Joseph had not sent Jesus on any business in the Temple. Somehow, they had apparently almost forgotten how Jesus had been conceived in the virgin’s womb.

Last year (that is, just a few weeks ago) during one of our Wednesday evening services, we heard the words of Isaiah 11—a prophecy of the coming Christ, who would be true God and true Man: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD.

We spoke of the sevenfold gifts of the Spirit: Wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge, piety, and the fear of the Lord. All those gifts would be outstanding in the Christ. And already at the age of 12, we begin to see them all resting on Jesus. Piety and the fear of the Lord kept Him behind in Jerusalem to spend extra time in His Father’s house, doing His Father’s business. Might was the courage and bravery to sit there in the midst of the teachers, to engage with the rabbis of Jerusalem at the age of 12, without parents present; courage and bravery to stay behind in Jerusalem to do what His Father wanted Him to do. Knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and counsel all came together as He asked and answered the questions of the rabbis, so that all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. Counsel was also shown in giving the perfect reply to His parents when they found Him: Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? In all these things, you can see the light of Jesus’ divinity shining through His humble appearance.

Speaking of “humble,” it wasn’t only Jesus’ appearance that was humble. It was also His behavior, and that’s what I’d like you to consider next. And as we view this revelation of His divinity, we’re struck by another amazing revelation: the divine Son of God has humbled Himself and made Himself obedient, both to His Father in heaven and to His earthly parents.

One of the articles of faith we discuss in catechism class is Jesus’ state of humiliation: from His conception in the virgin’s womb through His burial and His time spent in the grave. He lowered (“humbled”) Himself down to the level of mortal man: (1) By setting aside the full use of His divine attributes to experience the limitations of mortal man; (2) By placing Himself under God’s holy Law to obey it perfectly (active obedience); and (3) By allowing Himself to be rejected, condemned and punished (passive obedience). Today’s Gospel is a good place to begin thinking again about Jesus’ state of humiliation.

As a little baby, Jesus didn’t choose where or how He would be born, or anything else. He was God, even as a baby. But at that age, nothing in His behavior would reveal it. The question that still had to be answered was, What would this Child’s behavior be like? What would that reveal about His divinity? What would it reveal about God?

As we learn that this child who grew up with Mary and Joseph in their home, in most ways like any 12-yr-old boy, is actually the Creator of the universe, we’re astonished at how humble He was. He humbled Himself, first, before His heavenly Father, and then, before the earthly parents whom His heavenly Father had given Him.

Jesus didn’t linger behind in Jerusalem to have fun, or to explore the big city, or to get away from His parents. He stayed behind to serve His Father, to do His Father’s business, not as a rabbi Himself yet, not as a Teacher or Preacher. But as a humble boy. But even a 12-yr-old boy can have an impact, if not on the world, then on the Church where he belongs. To see a young man so devoted to God, so eager to hear and discuss His Word, to hear Him talking excitedly, not about sports or TV shows or movies, but about God and Holy Scripture, wholly dedicated to God—that’s powerful. And it’s humble.

And then, to see how God—how Jesus—behaved with His parents…He was their Creator, and yet He submitted to them, both before and after the incident in Jerusalem. How else could they have so easily left Him on His own as they started back for Nazareth, just assuming He would be fine, because He never gave them a single problem? And after they found Him, it says again that He was subject to them. Even though He knew more than they did. Even though He was perfect and they were not. He humbled Himself before them.

When you consider the humility of God at age 12, when you look at that perfect example of keeping the 3rd and the 4th commandments, you must, at first, see how far short you have fallen, even as a child. When you consider how willingly and how respectfully He submitted to His teachers there in the Temple and to His earthly parents, you must recall your own behavior and your own attitudes and see how wretched you were or have been in comparison.

But then you realize, that’s why we needed Jesus to humble Himself, because our lack of humility before God and man condemned us. But here was Jesus, even as a child, willingly obeying, willingly submitting, loving His Father in heaven perfectly, loving His earthly authorities genuinely. And that is our salvation. That, and the obedience the same Jesus would show in Jerusalem some 21 years later at another Passover, where He would submit to His Father’s will and lay down His life as a sacrifice for our sins.

Now, St. Paul writes in today’s Epistle, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

By the mercies of God, because God was willing to take on human flesh and humble Himself for your salvation, you are called upon, not to show up in church once in a while, not to do this or that good deed, but to present your body, your life, as a living sacrifice to God, which is acceptable to God because you are a baptized believer in Christ Jesus. It would be so much easier to be conformed to this world, to think like the people around you think, to indulge in the sins that the world indulges in, to make up your own beliefs in God as the world makes up its own beliefs and calls them valid. But don’t. Don’t do it. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Guess how you do that? Well, by sitting here and “foolishly wasting your time” pondering an incident from the life of Jesus at age 12. By allowing your mind to be molded by Scripture and by the life of Jesus, both here and at home. By making it your goal to live, not like the people around you, but like Jesus and like all the saints who have imitated Jesus in their own lives, from childhood through adulthood. Marvel today at the humility of God at age 12. Rejoice in the salvation earned for you by that humility. And go forth and put the same humility into practice. Amen.

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A gift from the Gentiles, a gift for the Gentiles at Epiphany

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Rev. Paul Rydecki
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Sermon for the Epiphany of Our Lord

Isaiah 60:1-6  +  Matthew 2:1-12

An epiphany is a manifestation or a revelation of something hidden from plain sight. During this season of Epiphany, the Church celebrates various epiphanies of Jesus’ hidden divinity. He appeared as a Man. He was and is a Man! That’s what the eye could see from the time Jesus was born. But throughout His life, He revealed that which was hidden from sight. He revealed that He was also divine, that He was God, with all the significance that carries. On this festival of the Epiphany, the Church actually celebrates three such revelations: the Epiphany of Jesus’ divine kingship as the wise men came from afar to worship Him; the Epiphany of Jesus’ divine origin and nature at His Baptism; and the Epiphany of Jesus’ divine power displayed in His first miracle at the wedding of Cana. Since we’ll focus on the wedding at Cana two Sundays from now, let’s take a few moments this evening and focus on the visit of the wise men and on Jesus’ Baptism. In the one, Jesus, true God and true Man, received a precious gift from the Gentiles. In the other, the same Jesus, true God and true Man, gave a priceless gift to the Gentiles (and to the Jews).

Wise men from the east were the Gentiles who brought their gifts to Jesus, who recognized the hidden divinity of the Child whom they found in Bethlehem. We know little about them, except that they were Gentiles who were familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures and with the promise of the birth of a very important King in Israel. Not just any king, but the promised royal Son of David who would sit on David’s throne. Not just a man, but a man whose goings forth are from everlasting, who would reign as King forever. Not just King of the Jews, but a light to the Gentiles and the Ruler of all nations. What else the wise men may have known about the Christ, we have no idea. But they knew that much. And they knew somehow that His birth would be announced by a special kind of star.

There was Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers 24: “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel…Out of Jacob One shall have dominion.” Beyond that, we don’t know what else led them to identify this star that they saw with the birth of the promised King. The important thing is that they took what they knew from Scripture and believed. They took what they knew and acted upon it, as if it mattered. As if it mattered enough for them to spend weeks or months traveling across the desert to find and to worship the Baby who was also their King and their God.

They saw the star and headed toward Jerusalem, the royal city of the Jews, thinking that the King had to be found there. But all they found was wicked King Herod, who had no idea that another supposed King had been born. From their description, he knew they must be talking about the Christ, but he had to call in the priests to find the passage in Micah chapter 5 identifying the place of His birth: Bethlehem. But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah…Out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

One would hope that in the capital city of the Jews, there would have been great rejoicing over even the possibility of Christ the King of the Jews having been born. But Matthew writes that Herod was “troubled” and “all Jerusalem with him.” Why? Because they were just settling into the status quo of Roman occupation. There was relative peace in the land. Apparently not many were waiting for the Christ at that time. Not many were looking for redemption in Israel, certainly not of the spiritual kind.

Today’s world isn’t much troubled any longer about the coming of Christ. They’ve already redefined Him and written Him off. They’ve invented a Christ who lets them believe whatever they want, a Christ who is just one holy man among many, one teacher among many, one path to salvation among many. But when Christians speak truly about Christ, when Christians worship and follow Christ according to His actual teachings in the Bible, when Christians confess Christ as the only God and King who calls all men to repentance and faith and who threatens judgment and destruction on those who reject Him, then the world is troubled again. But Christians troubling the world in that way is the only way for the Gospel to reach those who will believe.

Herod hid his troubledness from the wise men, though, and sent them on their way, ordering them to return and tell him the whereabouts of the Child, which, thankfully, they didn’t do. And the special, miraculous star reappeared after they started off for Bethlehem, leading them the rest of the way to the house where Jesus was.

And finding Him, they worshiped Him. Imagine these scholarly officials, falling down on their knees before a baby, in a humble house in a small town, cared for by a humble mother and father. And yet they did bow down, in true humility and awe and worship. To the eyes, He looked like any child. To the eyes, their worship appears very strange. But the Scriptures and the star and the Holy Spirit Himself had revealed the Child for what He truly was: the Ruler whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting, as the promised Son of David, as the King of the nations. So they presented Him with the costly, kingly gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

These were the first Gentiles to find out about Christ and to seek Him, but they were only the beginning. You heard the prophecy in Isaiah 60 this evening: The Gentiles shall come to your light. Not just three of them (or however many wise men there were), but many of them. They all gather together, they come to you; Your sons shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your side…The wealth of the Gentiles shall come to you; the multitude of camels shall cover your land; all those from Sheba shall come. Isaiah doesn’t mean that every single person from every nation will come to Christ. But he does mean that many of the Gentiles, people from all nations will come and worship Him in faith, just like the wise men did, will come and offer up their costly treasures to Him, just like the wise men did, even their very bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

Now, just as a few of the Gentiles presented their costly gifts to Jesus in this epiphany of His divine office as King, so, in about 30 years or so, the King would present His own priceless gift to the Gentiles in the form of Holy Baptism.

What was Jesus’ very first official kingly act as He stepped forth to begin His ministry? Matthew writes in chapter 3, Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him. When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Pay attention to the words of Luther’s Baptism hymn that we’ll sing after the sermon. It explains so well what was going on at Jesus’ Baptism and what still goes on when people are baptized in His name. He looked just like any of the Jewish men who were going to John to be baptized. But the hidden reality was that, unlike those men, who brought their sins to Baptism to receive God’s forgiveness from Baptism; Jesus brought His righteousness to Baptism to receive the sins of mankind from Baptism as the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Even as Jesus took on the role of a sinner in this Sacrament, so He also planted His own righteousness into it—righteousness which serves as the basis for the forgiveness of sins, righteousness which He would soon give as a priceless gift to all Gentiles—to all nations. As He told His disciples, Go and make disciples of all nations—of all Gentiles! —baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All three Persons of the Holy Trinity are there at every Baptism, beginning with the Baptism of Jesus, so that God is the true Baptizer, as we’ll sing. And all who are baptized are counted together with Christ, who was declared the beloved Son of God the Father, in whom He is well-pleased.

Circumcision was the Sacrament for the Jews, for the physical descendants of Abraham. But Baptism was never restricted to a certain nation. It’s Christ’s gift to all the nations, where it works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, whether Gentiles or Jews. In this way, He has offered us all a way to be incorporated into Him.

Of course, none of that is seen when a person is baptized. It’s hidden from our sight, but revealed in this glorious epiphany.

And so we celebrate today these two epiphanies of Jesus’ hidden divinity. God calls upon you to imitate the wise men in the only way you can: to seek Jesus where the bright light of His Gospel reveals Him to be: right here in the preaching of His Word and in His holy Sacraments, to believe in Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, even though you don’t see Him as such; to worship Him as your King, which includes obeying Him as your King, even though His rule is hidden from sight; and to offer Him your life as an offering. But all of that you can do, only because He has already found you with His gift of Holy Baptism and there has given you the right to become children of God. Think about your Baptism and wear it every day as a garment and as a bond that links you to Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the King of the wise men, and the King of all. Amen.

 

 

 

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