By revhamer@verizon.net, on January 31st, 2009%
Sermon on St. Luke 2:41-52
The First Sunday after the Epiphany
11 January 2009
+ In the Name of Jesus +
and in favor with God and men. – St. Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,
Today’s Gospel lesson is the only detailed account we have of Jesus’ life between the visit of the Magi and His baptism. As for all the years in between, we have to settle for Luke’s summary. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” And so do we this Epiphany! The answers to two questions will guide our lifetime of spiritual growth. First, where do you go? Second, what do you get?
The setting of today’s Gospel lesson helps us understand where we go for spiritual growth. “[Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.” Recall the three major festivals in the OT. Pentecost celebrated the harvest. Tabernacles anticipated the day that God would tabernacle among us in Christ. And the Passover lived out the good news of the Exodus by killing and eating the lamb. So three times a year, for eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath, the Hebrews went to Jerusalem to receive the gifts of the suffering Messiah. This Passover, however, presented a twist. When Joseph and Mary left to return to Nazareth, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. After much panic, “they found [Jesus] in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.” In the Temple, the center of Jewish worship life, Jesus learned from the teachers. We call it instruction in the Word of God. “And all who heard Him were astonished as His understanding and answers.”
So where do you go for spiritual growth? The New Jerusalem is the church. Whether in heaven or on earth, in a cathedral or an outdoor mission station, in North America or Asia, the church is the place where Christ is present in His means of grace. Here is holy baptism. Here is the word of absolution and preaching. Here is Jesus’ true body and blood, given and shed for you. Here are the three major festivals: Pentecost, Christmas, and Easter. Here is our new Temple, the Christ. Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and I will build it again in three days.” The Temple that He spoke of was His body. And you, the church, are the very body of Christ. So go to church to increase in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men. And while you’re at it, bring your children that young and old together may praise the Lord (Ps. 147:11-13).
This stands in the contrast to the false teaching that children should not attend the Divine Service. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been dismayed in my lifetime to see a progression from children’s sermons to children’s church. It started with a denial of the power of the Gospel to reach young ears. Some folks probably thought their children weren’t getting anything out of the Divine Service. So along came the curious practice of a children’s sermon. Secular objects, from sporting equipment to pieces of fruit, were dragged into the chancel. Then came “children’s church.” Children were actually removed from the sanctuary (and the pastor and the means of grace) to their own service. They were cut off from the fullness of God’s gifts in the corporate liturgy. How different this is from the precedent in today’s Gospel lesson that children come to the same place with the same teachers and the same Gospel.
What difference does it make? The question of whether we gather together for word and sacrament or break down by age groups cuts right to the heart of the cross. Did Jesus die for all people? Yes! And does He invite all people to partake of one and the same Gospel? Yes! Think, for instance, of infant baptism. Babies need not understand theology to believe in Jesus. Christ is doing all the work for them through the water and the Word. Thanks be to God for this inexpressible gift! And we have a lifetime to growth in our baptismal grace as we faithfully participate in God’s word and sacraments. Where do you go for spiritual growth? You go to the holy Christian church, where young and old receive one and the same Gospel.
Second, what do you get? Once you’ve gone to the church, what does Jesus give you? After Mary responded as any parent would under the circumstances, Jesus’ replied with His first recorded public words. “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Jesus’ Father, of course, is God the Father, not Joseph. And what is the business of God the Father? Going to Jerusalem. Sitting the midst of the teachers. Listening to the preachers. Asking them questions. Understanding the sacred Scriptures. And, in due course, giving His life into death for our sins and rising from the dead in fulfillment of the Scriptures. So whenever the Word of God is rightly taught, the elect hear and believe. No wonder the teachers were “astonished as His understanding and answers.” As a man, Jesus had to grow in His wisdom and stature, just like you and I do. And even a young boy, rightly instructed in the Word, knows Christian doctrine.
“You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering” (Heb 12:22). And what do you get? Our Gospel lesson mentions three gifts: wisdom, stature, and favor. Wisdom is known in the Old Testament as “Lady Wisdom.” She is our mother, and she leads us in the way of life. Stature here can mean age or bodily stature, a reference to Jesus’ physical development. This may seem out of place to some of us, but remember that the body is God’s temple. Today’s Epistle reminds to “present the body as a living sacrifice,” i.e., to treat the body as God’s temple. Set aside for God’s service. Sexually pure and decent. Offered in His service. And we grow in favor with God and man. The word favor is the same word for grace. Our entire life is covered by God’s grace, isn’t it? By grace we are saved. By grace we live. By grace we will die. So from first to last, we grow in wisdom, stature, and favor (grace) with God and man.
This stands in contrast to the false belief that we should get something else out of church. There are numerous false teachings that threaten your salvation and your church membership. Camaraderie. Good feelings. Art for the sake of art. Power for the sake of power. And any other thing that is held above the Gospel as the reason for our church membership. Consider, for instance, church music for children. In my experience, most Protestants who try to lead children’s church music have two foundations for their craft. First, are the children having fun? Second, can the parents see that their children are having fun? Such questions are probably OK for the playground, but they have no place in church. Indeed, Jesus’ cross was not about having fun. Nor is the Christian church the place for any frivolity. Again, anything that is elevated above the Gospel itself is a false god and must be crucified through repentance.
What difference does it make? What you get out of church cuts to heart of the Gospel. Christ has died. Christ is risen. And Christ is present in this Christian church to bless you with all His gifts. Forgiveness, life, and salvation. Wisdom, stature, and favor. All richly and abundantly given to every age among those who believe. If Christ is making good on His promise to bless us with these gifts, then these riches are quite enough for us and for our salvation. If, however, we don’t believe that He is giving these gifts, then we must flee to camaraderie, fun, or some other false god. But Christ’s promise of the gifts of the Gospel simply cannot fail. Here is the entire Christ and all His gifts.
In this Gospel lesson, then, we see a snapshot of liturgy and learning for life. Where do you go for genuine spiritual growth? To church. And what do you get? The wisdom, stature, and favor of standing righteous before God. So from baptism to eternal life, Christ is with us in this Christian church. And He brings rich and abundant life to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Rev. Brian Hamer
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bayside, NY
By revhamer@verizon.net, on January 31st, 2009%
Sermon on St. Luke 2:1-14
Christmas Day
25 December 2008
+ Jesu Juva +
And the Word was made Flesh
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we
beheld His glory, the glory of the only-begotten from the
Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:14
Truth arose from the earth
and justice watched from heaven. — Psalm 85:11
Of all the Evangelists, St. Luke has the most detailed Christmas story, and no doubt the best known. From the census to the manger, from the shepherds to the angels, St. Luke is the stuff of Christmas pageants, living nativities, and seasonal cheer. However, I would suggest that St. John has the best summary of the Christmas Gospel in this theologically-laden statement: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (1:14). So also the following words from Psalm 85: “Truth arose from the earth and justice watched from heaven” (85:11). And so today, our Gospel lesson from St. Luke will give us the historical details. And our choral voluntary from St. John and the Psalmist will tell us what it all means as we discuss the Word made flesh.
The first half of our Gospel lesson from St. Luke describes the human side of the Christmas story, anchored in world history. Fairy tales begin with the words “Once upon a time.” The life of Christ begins with the words “And it came to pass.” See how human and how real the Christmas story is! Secular rulers, like Caesar, the ruler of the Roman Empire, and Quirinius, the local governor. A census, just like we take them every ten years, both for taxation purposes and for measuring goods and services. A pregnant woman from Nazareth, forced to do the unthinkable: to travel 90 miles, probably sitting on a donkey, just as she was about to give birth. A crowded city, for David’s descendants far outnumbered the capacity of lodging in this tiny suburb of Jerusalem. An unsuspecting innkeeper, a “no vacancy” sign in Bethlehem, and the birth of baby in what probably amounted to little more than a cow shed. The story has the word “human” written over it, for here are the basic elements of human life itself, all transpiring for us and for our salvation. No wonder St. Paul says, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born under the Law to redeem those who were under the Law” (Gal 4:4). It’s all coming to pass in the fullness of time, i.e., the time that God appointed to break nearly 400 years of silence by the prophets and introduce the One they all foretold, Jesus Christ. So in the fullness of time, “[Mary] brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in the manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (2:7). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the human nature of Jesus Christ.
If the first half of our Gospel lesson describes the human side of Christmas, then the second half describes the Divine aspect of the story. The birth of Jesus Christ is too good to be contained in a cattle stall with just a few faithful. It must be proclaimed to the ends of the earth! And so there were shepherds, abiding in their fields keeping watch over their flock by night. According to the custom of the day, they might have passed the night by playing tunes on their pipes and talking of many things. But this night, there would be a new level of pastoral theology and sacred music. The angel descended from heaven, the glory of the Lord came upon them, and they were greatly afraid. But the angel did not come to judge, but to bless: “For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior.” Yes, Christ is born to you. Heaven has descended to earth for you and for your salvation! But the word that really got their attention that night was probably “Lord.” This was the OT name of Yahweh, the Creator of heaven and earth, the One who causes to be. Yes, God, the One was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, has clothed Himself with flesh and blood. He is the baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in the manger. No wonder the angels rejoiced, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will toward men!” God is glorified by the birth of His Son in human flesh. There is peace on earth, for Christ Himself is our peace with God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us in the Divine nature of Christ Jesus.
Taken together, the earthly and heavenly sides of Christmas remind us the second half of our choral voluntary from Psalm 85[:11]: “Truth arose from the earth and justice watched from heaven.” Psalm 85 is a prayer that the Lord would restore favor to the land of Israel. The only way to restore favor is for God to be present with His people, thereby uniting heaven and earth, especially as the Word is made flesh to live among God’s people. And so Israel prayed, “Truth arose from the earth and justice watched from heaven.” The truth that arose from the earth is the human nature of Christ – born of the Virgin Mary, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and laid in the manger. This baby, doing all that terribly human baby stuff, is the truth from above, yes, He is truth incarnate. And the justice that watched from heaven is the Divine nature of Christ – conceived by the Holy Spirit, proclaimed as “Lord” by the angels, and worshiped by shepherds. This child is God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Hence this Psalm verse, one of the traditional entrance Psalms for Christmas Day, preaches the good news that the Word made flesh to dwell among us is Truth arising from the earth and justice watching from heaven.
So the One proclaimed by the angels is fully God. See, Dearly Beloved, how He uses the powers of His Godhead for you and for your salvation! When He is born, it is the birth of God, born to give you the second birth of baptism. When He is circumcised, it is the circumcision of God, the first bloodshed of Him whose blood would purify you from your sin. When He preaches, He is preaching in the stead and by the command of God the Father, calling you to repentance and offering the word of forgiveness to all who believe. When He works His miracles, He is showing you that He is God, for God has come to earth to bless you with the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. When He dies on the cross, it is the death of God, that you might have life in His name. When He is buried, He enters your tomb with your sins on His shoulders and leaves them there forever. When He rises from the dead, He conquers death for your, that you may share in His resurrection victory. When He ascends into heaven, He goes to pray for you in your deepest need, and to pray for justice from heaven, i.e., the vindication of God’s elect in the final judgment. In short, everything He does is God at work to redeem you.
And the God who works for you is also fully man. See, Dearly Beloved, how He uses His humanity for you and for your salvation, even to this very day! For after his resurrection and ascension, He still brings you all the gifts of His humanity in the means of grace: baptism, preaching, and the Lord’s Supper. If your experience with Christmas celebrations has been anything like mine, you’ve probably noticed that there are at least two Christian Christmases competing for our attention: the protestant, “sweet baby Jesus” Christmas and the Lutheran, “Word made flesh” Christmas. To be sure, both Christmas celebrations rejoice that Christ was born for us. The Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols, for instance, was made famous by King’s College Cambridge, hardly a Lutheran entity, but an appropriate service for all Christians. The difference between Protestant and Lutheran is evident not in the lessons and carols, but in the Lord’s Supper. Our Protestant friends do not believe that the Lord’s Supper is the true body and blood of Christ because they believe that God has locked Jesus’ body in the chambers of heaven. We believe, however, that the Divine and human natures of Christ are at work in the Lord’s Supper. As man, He is here in His true body and blood. As God, He is present around the world, whenever and wherever the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. Word and flesh, God and man, truth and justice dwell together in the Blessed Sacrament. For here is the truth of His real presence and the justice that penitent sinners receive life in His name.
And so this Christmas Day, the good news that the Word was made flesh to dwell among us fulfills the church’s longing prayer of the final Sunday in Advent: “Drop down, ye heavens, from above: and let the skies pour down righteousness.” In the person of Christ, heaven has quite literally dropped down to earth. And in His work for us, the skies have poured down righteousness or forgiveness upon us. “Drop down, ye heavens” – and they are dropping down to us even now, in His true body and blood. Blessed Christ-mass! + INJ + Amen.
Rev. Brian Hamer
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bayside, NY
By revhamer@verizon.net, on January 31st, 2009%
Sermon on St. John 1:19-28
Advent IV
21 December 2008
+ In the Name of Jesus +
O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High,
pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things:
Come and teach us the way of prudence.
I was hesitant when the Lutheran Church introduced blue as an optional color for Advent. Aesthetic issues aside, Robin Egg Blue doesn’t really fit with the royalty of Advent I, “Your King comes to you.” Moreover, blue was introduced to help distinguish Advent from Lent, the other “purple” season of the church year. Was this change a subtle detour around repentance? I suspect it was. But Advent is a season of repentance, for it is the time that we cross over from the ignorance of our sin to the prudence of repentance and faith. And so today, adorned with purple paraments, we learn to pray from the depth of our sins to the Wisdom of the Most High.
The priests and Levites came out of the temple to John. They didn’t come to confess their sins or to be baptized. We might say they came to ‘church’ as critics, not as penitents. They asked John by whose authority he was baptizing and preaching: “Are you the Christ?” Was John was the Messiah, the long awaited Savior of Israel? John was at the Jordan, a place associated with key events in the life of Israel. He was of the house and lineage of Jacob. But John said plainly, “No, I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “Are you Elijah?” Recall that Elijah did not die, but was taken to heaven in a chariot at the same general area around the Jordan where John was baptizing. Again, the question may not be as ludicrous as it sounds to our ears. Elijah and John has a few things in common: the dress and diet of the OT prophet, the conflict with the leaders, and a promise from Malachi that a messenger would appear to call all men to repentance. And Jesus later said that John the Baptist was Elijah for those who believe in Him. But John simply answered, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” they asked, recalling God’s promise to Moses in Deuteronomy that God would send the prophet to His people. John was the greatest of the prophets, closest to Christ in His family tree and His honor of baptizing Jesus. But John simply said, “No.” If you’re keeping track, that’s three questions and three negative answers. And did you notice how the answers kept getting shorter? From “I am not the Christ” to “I am not” to a simple and curt “No.” John was but a finger and a voice in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord and making straight in the desert a highway for our God
The designation of John as a voice connects this Gospel lesson to our “O” antiphon: “O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High.” Wisdom stands in contrast to foolishness. In Proverbs, part of the Wisdom Literature of the OT, we read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7). Left to ourselves, we are the foolish ones who despise wisdom and instruction. Perhaps you’ve heard folks say from time to time that (pardon their bad grammar) they “don’t like to get preached at.” Indeed, one popular preacher in California once read in the newspaper that people in his county didn’t have a high regard for the Bible, so he stopped quoting it in his sermons! One is tempted, of course, to blame the disdain for the wisdom of preaching on ADD, short attention spans, and our obsession with electronic images to dazzle the eye. These may contribute to our foolishness, but at heart the disconnect between preaching and people is the sinful desire to be our own god, to lean on our own understanding, and to choose what’s best for ourselves. We call it autonomy (self-governance). The OT calls it foolishness, and it is the way to eternal death. Repent!
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Repentance is the first step in the way of wisdom or prudence. And where there is repentance, there is full and free forgiveness in Christ. See how this “O” antiphon addresses Jesus directly as Wisdom incarnate. It doesn’t say, for instance, that Jesus brings wisdom, or is a step along the way toward achieving wisdom. Rather, as all good theology does, it gets right to Christ Himself as the Wisdom from above: “O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High.” The same mouth that once called all things into being in Genesis 1–2 has come to dwell among us in the flesh and blood of Christ, to die our death, and to rise from the dead. Risen and ascended, He now speaks to us through His prophets and Apostles, through pastors and teachers, through Christian parents and friends, to say that Christ is our Wisdom, our righteousness, and our redemption. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” Life itself proceeds from the mouth of the Most High, saving us from our own foolishness and giving us the wisdom from above.
Having answered the objections of the priests and Levites, John then received an inquisition from the Pharisees, the rulers of the synagogues. They had obviously conferred with the priest and Levites, for they picked up where they left off: “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” Baptism was something new with John. The Jews had ceremonial washings that you did to yourself. The jars of water, for instance, at the wedding in Cana (John 2) were probably meant for the bride’s bath the night before her wedding. And recall Pilate’s attempt to cleanse himself of guilt at Jesus’ trial by washing his own hands. But John came baptizing. God is the subject or doer, the preacher is the spokesman for God, the water is the visible element, and the baptizan is the passive recipient. This was new and even offensive to the unbelievers. So why do you baptize, John?
John’s answers points to Jesus. For John, it all points to Jesus. All questions are answered in the Word made flesh to dwell among us. “I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose strap I am not worthy to loose.” Jesus was after John in time, for John was six months older than cousin Jesus. But Jesus was before John, yes, greater than John in His person, for He was the Divine Word, the One who was in the beginning with God. “All things were made through Him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” So John’s answer, in effect, was this: “I am but a messenger, a finger pointing all men to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (1:29). Stick around and you’ll see Him step into the Jordan to be baptized and to stand under the wrath of God the Father. ‘And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God’ (1:34).”
Our “O” antiphon describes the Son of God as “pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things.” Just before our Gospel lesson, the Evangelist says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1-2). Yes, Jesus was there when God created the heavens and the earth. He was the Word spoken from the Most High, calling all creation into being and mightily ordering all things. And He still pervades and permeates all creation, for He is everywhere, caring for His creation and sustaining its life. Later in John’s Gospel, Jesus told the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I AM” (8:51). In other words, before Father Abraham received the promise, I was with God in the beginning because I am God. See, Dearly Beloved, how His presence with creation is our light and our life! Left to ourselves, we only have darkness. On our own, we are forever lost in death and chaos. But the God who pervades all things chose to do the unthinkable: He permeated His creation in the flesh and blood of His own Son. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” He entered our creation as God with us, God one of us. He lived a perfect life in our place. He died on the cross to restore creation to its original splendor. He rose from the dead to proclaim the light and life of the Gospel to you and me, to baptize us into His name, and to feed us His true body and blood. Creation is restored. Life reigns again. And God saw that it was very good.
St. John ends with a simple note: “These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.” The original text actually says “Bethabara” or place of crossing. Recall that the Jordan River was the place of crossing for Israel as she finally entered the Promised Land. She crossed from slavery to freedom, from the barren wilderness to a prosperous homeland, yes, Israel crossed from death to life. And now, as John was preaching and baptizing, the repentant were crossing from the death of sin to new life in Christ. And so it is for us. Advent is a time to remember our place of crossing, the baptismal font, through daily repentance (purple paramonts!) and faith. Here we crossed from sure and certain death to eternal life with God. This font is our Jordan, where Jesus, who pervades and permeates all creation, came to teach us the wisdom of the Most High, and to keep us in His baptismal grace unto life everlasting. And so, at the threshold of Christmas, we pray, “Come and teach us the way of prudence.” INJ. Amen.
Rev. Brian Hamer
Redeemer Lutheran Church, Bayside, NY
By ToddPeperkorn, on January 30th, 2009%
Below you’ll find a couple excerpts from Burnell Eckardt’s blog, Gottesblog. In it he laments the changes made to the one year lectionary in LSB. You may read them as you see fit.
I wanted to make one comment, really. Okay, a question and a comment. First off, what changes are we talking about here? Are we talking about the translation? The Introits and graduals? Are we talking about the OT readings and the occasional Epistle? What precisely are we talking about?
Then on to the comment. I will say for myself that I have been very happy with the LSB one year lectionary. I’ve used it since it was in “field test” form, so about six years or so. Really my only complaint (and it is barely that) is that I would have preferred the NKJV over the ESV. My reason for that is that I prefer the Majority text to a critical edition, and I think that the NKJV retains the poetry of the language a little better. But I am also willing to give on that comment regard.
As to the readings themselves, I’ll say that I love them. I much prefer the narratives over the predictive prophecy in the OT readings. I’m sure Fritz will tell me why it’s bad, but I find it much more preachable.
So those are my Friday afternoon lectionary thoughts, as I muse on the Transfiguration.
So you one year folks, what do you think of the LSB lectionary? Good, bad, ugly? Why?
-P
Crabby about Changes: by Burnell Eckardt
I tried to go with the plan, and agree to the slight compromise of accepting the one-year lectionary put forward by the LSB committee. It’s a compromise because, on the one hand, it’s mostly the same as the historic–in fact, the Gospels are all the same–and it would be good to foster some uniformity among followers of the one year series; but on the other hand there are a few changes, although the historic Epistle is always available, even if only on occasion as an alternate. The Old Testament readings are new, but then, Old Testament readings were never part of the historic lectionary in the first place.
So it was that the little group of us that met at my place in October of 2007, our liturgy seminar, to talk about what sort of one-year lectionary would be best, arrived at this compromise, and went with the LSB one-year lectionary, and in fact have posted it at this very Gottesdienst site, under Calendar and Archives. A number of Gottesdienst readers have followed suit, and routinely go to this calendar for their readings.
So off we went, for a couple of weeks into the new year. And dag nab it, I soon found myself missing the readings I had come to expect after years of having them. And I got to thinking, why did I change? To foster uniformity? But the decision to go with a local lectionary (local in a parochial sense, rather than in the geometric sense in which local lectionaries differed from one another in the regions of Germany after the Reformation, many of which also had their own lectionaries) is not going to foster any real catholic uniformity anyhow.
So I have reversed myself.
I’m back to the historic historic lectionary, in hopes of alleviating my crabbiness, and trusting my instincts. And as for possible charges that this will brand me as fickle, or hopelessly repristinating, or, worst of all, in disagreement with our own calendar, or whatever, I have to swallow and say, Damn the torpedoes. I’d rather be happy.”
(Via Gottesdienst Online.)
By pastorjuhl, on January 30th, 2009%
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
Just when Peter thought it was good to be on the mount of Transfiguration with Jesus, Moses, Elijah, James, and John, he heard a voice coming out of the cloud that surrounded them: this is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him! The next thing Peter knew, he looked up and saw no one but Jesus only. Jesus then commanded Peter, James, and John to tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.
Why hide such a marvelous sight? Why not tell the whole world before Jesus suffers and dies an innocent death? There’s the rub. Jesus must suffer the worst punishment possible, even death, as a suitable sacrifice for our sin. If Peter, James, and John were to tell everyone what they saw immediately, there’s a chance Jesus may never make it to Golgotha with a crown of thorns on His head and a cross on His back.
It’s ironic that the sight of Jesus dying on a cross is one we would rather not see, even though His death brings us forgiveness, life, and salvation. We, like Peter, would rather focus on the happier events of our Lord’s life. It’s good to be on the mount of Transfiguration. It’s good to be in Bethlehem with the wise men. It’s good to be in Jerusalem seeing the “tweener” Jesus teach the doctors of God’s Law. It’s good to be at Cana. It’s good to be in Capernaum for the healing of the leper and the centurion’s servant. It’s bad to be at Golgotha when the Romans crucify Jesus on behalf of the Jews.
It’s good to focus on all the joy Jesus brings us. Yet that joy comes wrapped in a horrible event: Christ’s death. Sure, we know the ending is a happy one with the resurrection. But pondering the Passion of Jesus is not what we would call an enjoyable experience. So we hurry through Lent to get to Easter and all those resurrection hymns. It’s better to sing “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” than “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth”. White lilies brighten the church better than violet’s penitential mood. Who cares about the Suffering Servant? Let’s get to the happy ending and hang around as long as possible!
Perhaps that’s what Peter, James, and John might be thinking as they descend the mountain with Jesus. Why wait to tell about Jesus appearing with Moses and Elijah in all His glory. Why wait to divulge the content of their conversation; most certainly about the events that were about to take place in Jerusalem. Let’s make sure everyone knows that Jesus is the awesome God long foretold by prophets and patriarchs! Let’s spread the Word that Jesus is the Second Adam from God the Father Himself, ready to undo Adam’s horrible deed wrought by the crafty serpent!
Peter, James, and John do what we might think is unthinkable. They keep their mouths shut. They tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead. It’s hard enough for us to keep a secret several days before Christmas, let alone three disciples keeping the Transfiguration a secret for a longer period of time. When Jesus rises from the dead, these men and the other apostles cannot shut up anymore. They can’t stop talking about Jesus and what He did for the sins of the world. They cannot stop proclaiming His resurrection story. They cannot stop telling everyone what they saw and heard. What they once saw with their eyes, they now tell with their lips. The Word of the apostles creates and sustains faith in the Savior who shows His glory not merely in His transfiguration, but in His dying woes and His resurrection joy.
The Epiphany season draws to a close today. But there are two more big epiphanies yet to come. One happens on a dark Friday afternoon when Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, cries out it is finished and gives up His spirit. The other happens in the predawn hours that next Sunday when some women and later some apostles go to the tomb and find it empty, just as Jesus told them. All the wonders we have heard these last four weeks build to these long awaited climactic moments. The transfigured Jesus will shine brighter in glorious humility, only to outdo Himself with by shining brighter than a refiner’s fire with an empty tomb, while being mistaken by Mary for a gardener.
If you think the preceding glimpses of Christ’s glory were something, then the best is yet to come. What the unbelieving world describes as a cunningly devised fable we will see to be the prophetic word confirmed, which [we] do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place. Lent cannot extinguish the light of the world. Holy Week cannot extinguish the light of the world. These two solemn seasons prepare us to lament our sins, repent, and once again believe in the Good News that Jesus conquers the old evil foe once again, once and for all.
As we hear those familiar Lenten themes weave in and out of the Divine Service and Wednesday Vespers, we will be fed as always with Word and Sacrament. The next three weekends will prepare us for Holy Lent by fixing our eyes on how God deals with us: grace alone, Word alone and ultimately Christ alone. Ashes will smear our forehead as we make our penitential cry on Ash Wednesday. Wednesday Vespers will focus on the Penitential Psalms, encouraging us to pray these psalms while also teaching us more about Individual Confession and Absolution. If you’ve never received Individual Absolution, Lent is the perfect time to start!
The next thing we know it will be Holy Week. Jesus will institute His Supper on Maundy Thursday. The altar will be stripped bare for Good Friday. Muted joy reigns on Good Friday as the sacrifice for sin is complete. A dark church building comes alive with light during the Easter Vigil as the first proclamation of the Resurrection is made. Finally comes Easter Day as lilies represent the trumpet of the resurrection Gospel.
All this comes after the fantastic sight we see with Peter, James, and John today in the Transfiguration. Thanks be to God that Peter, James, and John told no one of this wonderful sight until the Son of Man rose from the dead. Their silence made it possible for Jesus to die for our sins and rise from the dead. God grant that we may see Jesus only as the humble and glorious Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
By sean.daenzer, on January 29th, 2009%
Candlemas, Presentation of our Lord, Groundhog day….
16th century Lutheran chant anthologies only call it the Purification of Mary, though Matthäus Ludecus notes that it was also called Liechtmes in German, along with the blessing of candles and impiae superstitiones adhibetae sunt.
I had hoped to transcribe an Alleluia verse as well, but I found great discrepancy: 4 options in all. The one prescribed in the Common Service (I will worship toward Thy holy temple…) is found nowhere in the chant sources available to me for the Purification. The liber usualis (20th century Roman) has this alleluia assigned for the dedication of a temple.
The liber prescribes a beautiful liturgical text alleluia, “The old man carried the young Child: Yet the young Child was the old man’s King.”
Ludecus (1589) gives “Virga Jesse floruit...” which the liber prescribes for common masses for the B.V.M.
Magdeburg (1613) gives “Diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis…”, which the liber prescribes for St. Lucy Day.
Ludecus, as well as the liber, provides the chants to be sung prior to the service as the candles are blessed, providing a 3 part organum setting for boys which may be transcribed and translated in the future. For now, here’s the introit for the Purification of Mary (which is in fact shared with the 8th Sunday after Trinity).
Purification of Mary
By pastorjuhl, on January 29th, 2009%
Deo volente, this will be preached at the Divine Service before the Lenten Preaching Seminar at Messiah Church, Kenosha, WI. I put this here just in case I forget to bring my sermon from Momence to Kenosha. Feel free not to read it if you are planning to be there!
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
There is no reason Mary must bring her Son to the temple. Jesus is the temple with skin. Jesus was not conceived from the seed of man. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of the angel Gabriel into Mary’s ear and womb. Her first-born male Child is holy to the Lord regardless of the Law of Moses because He is the Son of God. Yet Mary and Joseph keep the Law by bringing Jesus to the temple with the offering required by the Law. Because they are poor they bring the price of sacrifice: two turtledoves or two pigeons.
Forty days old, nursing at His mother’s breast, and Jesus keeps the Law as He should. Here we are in our old age and we can’t even begin to keep the Law perfectly. We nurse at the breast of Holy Mother Church every Lord’s Day in Word and Sacrament. Yet we leave the house of the Lord only to go home and despise Him as well as our neighbor. We behold Jesus in the flesh proclaiming Good News that sets us free from the captivity of the Law only to bind ourselves under that same Law by believing we can make ourselves righteous in the sight of God and man.
Like Simeon we hold Christ close to us as He serves us in the Divine Service. But we live as if Christ is far from us; as far as the east is from the west. We speak ill of those whose souls are under our stewardship. We want to lord our authority over them. We want not so much to be loved but to be liked. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to explain everything in the kindest way. We don’t want to teach the Word. We would rather hold Christ close to us when it’s convenient, then drop Him like a bad habit when the devil and the world threaten us.
Like Simeon we are waiting to die. God promises us as He did Simeon that we won’t die without seeing the Lord’s Christ. We see Him not as a Baby but as victorious Lord of all; conqueror of death and glorious in array. But our song sounds different than Simeon’s song. Our song sounds like this: “Lord, leave me alone in peace according to my opinion. For my eyes can’t see Your salvation that you have promised before the sight of all people. Your light doesn’t lighten my path. Your promised glory to Your people Israel is broken.”
Our song sounds like the song of the dead. Left to our own devices outside of God’s Word of forgiveness, our song is a song of someone that will die with no confidence in Jesus. When we have no confidence in Jesus and His ministry among us, we might as well be dead because there is no hope when we die.
Jesus’ ministry of hope was already in full swing at eight days old when He was circumcised according to the Law of God. He didn’t need to be circumcised because Jesus is our circumcision. Yet He submits willingly to the Law of God in our place so He might keep the Law for us. Jesus sheds blood that we might live forever, covered in His blood and His perfect righteousness. Jesus’ ministry of hope continues at age 40 days. He didn’t need to be presented in the temple. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice from our heavenly Father. Yet He submits willingly to the Law of God in our place so He might keep the Law for us.
The price of sacrifice would go up as our Lord’s age went up. Judas betrays Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, considerably more than two turtledoves or two pigeons. His betrayal leads to the ultimate sacrifice for us: the shedding of blood. Jesus willingly suffers the humiliation of death upon a cross to ransom us from the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. Jesus again sheds blood on our behalf to fulfill the Law and to cover us from God’s burning wrath over our sin.
It is this future event that Simeon sings. He has seen the Lord’s Christ. He believes what the prophets say concerning this Child. Simeon took Jesus up in his arms and blessed God. We will do the same in a few moments after receiving the Lord’s Christ under bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper. Singing Simeon’s song after the Distribution is a Lutheran anomaly when we look at the history of the Mass. Rome doesn’t sing it, the Anglicans don’t sing it, and Lutherans until 1888 didn’t sing it.
Perhaps the drafters of the Common Service were on to something when they put this canticle in the Mass. It fits perfectly with what is happening. We have taken Jesus up in our arms, whether we receive the Body of Christ by mouth or hand. We can’t help but bless God with the Words He first blessed us by causing Saint Luke to write down Simeon’s song under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We can argue whether or not Simeon was an old man. We can argue whether or not Simeon is saying he’s ready to die in peace or he’s ready to leave the temple in peace. The one thing we cannot argue is that Jesus is in His temple, the temple made of flesh and blood, and we behold Him in His temple as He is presented in His temple made of stone. The beauty of the Lord is no longer about an architectural masterpiece. The beauty of the Lord is about Jesus being last, lost, least, little, and dead so we might be with Him in His resurrection as first, found, greatest, large in life, and alive in Christ.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit
By ToddPeperkorn, on January 28th, 2009%
Why is “horama” translated as vision in verse nine? Does the word have some connotation of ecstatic vision? I just wonder if the word has some sense that the event isn’t real. Obviously, I don’t believe that, but our use of the word vision seems to almost imply it.
By pastorjuhl, on January 28th, 2009%
Pius Parsch, “The Church’s Year of Grace”
The feast of the Purification brings the Christmas-Epiphany season to its end. The theology proper to today’s liturgy forms a fitting transition from Christmas to Easter (1:369).
To grasp its real significance we must associate it with the great solemnities of the winter cycle. Christmas, Epiphany, Purification – these are the peaks of the current season. It would not be impossible to discover a gradual heightening in the season’s “Light” motif and in man’s response to the divine outpouring of Epiphany. On Christmas “the Light shines in the darkness” and only a few “receive it” – Mary and the shepherds at the crib. On Epiphany the Light casts its bright beams upon Jerusalem (the Church), “the glory of the Lord rises over Jerusalem,” and the Gentiles come flocking out of the darkness to the City of Light. Lastly on Candlemas Day, the Light is placed in our very hands, to hold during the service. Light, therefore, plays a notable role in today’s liturgy (1:369-370).
The Greek Church very significantly calls the feast Hypapante, “the Meeting” or “Encountering.” In the temple (holy Church), mankind meets the Lord (1:370).
(Parsch on why this day is also called Candlemas): Candles are blessed for liturgical use and are also distributed to the faithful. In homes they should be lighted on the occasion of family devotions, in times of storm, household crises, or other dangers; also at the Communion of the sick and at the administration of Extreme Unction. The Church, moreover, wishes these candles to remind us of our baptismal candles; for the candles we held at baptism signified our heavenly adoption and our duties in the lay priesthood of Christ. Year after year we again receive a baptismal candle so that “with burning lamp” we may hasten to meet the Bridegroom when He comes for the heavenly nuptials (1:371).
Several Old Testament prophets had foretold how the temple’s greatest glory was reserved for the day when the Messiah appeared in its sacred precincts and revealed Himself. Their oracles are now fulfilled. Today Jesus enters His Father’s house for the first time; in future years He will often manifest Himself there as the Messiah and the Son of God (1:374).
(Simeon’s) beautiful canticle, the Nunc Dimittis, has been incorporated into the Church’s official night prayer (Compline), where it serves as an expression of thanksgiving for the graces and blessings of another day of redemption. As we sing it we see Simeon holding the Child Jesus in his arms and then, with grateful heart, retiring from his earthly service to God. We, too, are in the Lord’s service. At the close of the day we hold the Savior in our arms, mystically speaking; we hold Him in faith, in grace, in the sacraments, especially the Sacrament of the Altar. Fervently we thank God for His blessings; and we are prepared, if it be His will, to take our leave from the world. Yes, Lord, now You may dismiss me, Your servant. For with the eyes of faith I have again seen my Savior, Jesus. I, too, belong to the multitude of the elect. Christ is my salvation, my redemption, my Light; He enlightens the darkness of my mind and heart. He is my glory, my eternal recompense! Oh, that we could bring each day to a close with thoughts like these! How well they express the noblest sentiments of a Christian heart at the end of the day. How beautiful would Simeon’s prayer fall from the lips of the dying; it would be the night prayer to life (1:375).
Blessed Martin Luther’s Festival Postil
Outwardly I am dying, but faith swallows up death. My eyes have received the Savior who takes away sins, death and hell. So if you would die safely and gladly, then treasure this verse [For my eyes have seen your salvation], that Christ your Savior has taken away all your need and misfortune. You have received Him in your eyes through faith. This sight makes you secure from all sins and death which are taken away and conquered through Christ (Part 1, p. 242).
The law had absolutely now power, no, not the least bit, over Christ. For He was way above it and is LORD over the law and was also born without sin of a virgin. So the law also cannot say to Him, “Do this. Don’t do that.” He could well reply, “My friend, I do and don’t do and have done it and not done it whatever there is to do or not to do. I don’t need you to add your commands to do or leave undone.” Now hold these two things side by side. I am under obligation to the law but don’t do it. Christ was not under obligation but did it. He is free with respect to it and yet He willingly submitted to it and kept everything that Moses established from the first letter of the law to the last, not out of necessity and compulsion, but rather from His free will (Part 1, p. 250).
Now when sins overtake you by the power of the law, then hold Christ against the law. While it frightens you with death because you have not done enough by the law, then turn your eyes immediately from that unto Christ, who came under the law and fulfilled it and say, “Dear fellow, if you would frighten me then I also fear the One who gave you your authority which you rebelliously used against Him.” Then the law must vanish and death flee. It can no longer terrify. For I have this authority from Christ. God defeated death, tread the devil under His feet not by my might, but through the young LORD and king. I enjoy not what is mine, but what is the LORD’s (Part 1, p. 252).
[Jesus] is the treasure who makes me rejoice and makes death a lively thing for me. That is, as I have said, as we see Him who was made under the law, and know Him as the One who helps us, how is it possible that we not be joyous and unafraid before death and every misfortune? Do you see now what this good old man has in his heart? Should he now die, he says he would go down in peace. It is a great comfort and a fine word of joy and peace even in death. Where does he get such a lively death? Only from the child (Part 1, p. 255-256).
By pastorjuhl, on January 26th, 2009%
The Pre and Post-Vatican II lectionary puts the Transfiguration account as the Second Sunday in Lent. Gerhard’s Postillas puts the text as the Last Sunday in the Church Year. I could not find a Luther sermon on the Transfiguration. Bo Giertz’s “Preaching from the Whole Bible” (thank you, Lutheran Legacy, for republishing this gem!) puts the Transfiguration in place of Trinity 7. It is known that August 6 is the customary day for Transfiguration in the Western Church and for New Calendar Eastern Christians. Old Calendar Eastern Christians celebrate Transfiguration on August 19.
Luther Reed’s “The Lutheran Liturgy” says concerning Transfiguration: “Since this feast received only limited observance on August 6, usually a weekday; and since it seemed appropriate as a climax to the Epiphany season, the Reformers Bugenhagen and Veit Dietrich chose it as the theme for sermons on the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany. Eventually this became the general Lutheran use. The Common Service Book (not the Common Service), remembering that our Lord after descending from the Mount “set His face to go to Jerusalem,” appointed the Transfiguration from the last Sunday after the Epiphany in every year “except when there is only one Sunday after the Epiphany.” (Reed 449)
Note: 2008 was a year when there was only one Sunday after the Epiphany. So the Sunday calendar went Epiphany to the Baptism of Our Lord to Septuagesima.
Pius Parsch, “The Church’s Year of Grace”
By means of the…sacred Banquet, the transfiguration becomes an actuality through the Sacrament; the glorified Christ appears and we are sharers of His glory (4:294).
Jesus passed His life on earth as a poor, ordinary, simple Jew. But at the transfiguration, one may say, He threw off the dark mantle of humanity and revealed Himself in full divine splendor (4:295).
The liturgical texts not only serve to give instruction; their principal function is to signify that which actually takes place. What once happened during the night on Mount Tabor happens again every time the holy Sacrifice is offered…. Liturgy actualizes in our very presence the sanctifying act of Christ at His transfiguration (4:296).
Church Fathers
We must note that the mystery of the second rebirth, that namely which will take place in the resurrection, when the body will be raised again, rightly agrees with the mystery of the first, which takes place in Baptism, where the soul is restored to life. For in the Baptism of Christ the operation of the whole Trinity is revealed to us: for there was the Son Incarnate, the Holy Spirit under the form of a dove, and the Father makde known by His voice. And so in the Transfiguration, which mystically signifies the second rebirth, the whole Trinity appears: the Father in the voice, the Son in man, the Holy Spirit in a cloud. If it be asked why the Holy Spirit was first shown through a dove, but here by a cloud, the answer is that He indicates His gifts through fitting forms. He bestows innocence in Baptism, symbolized by the bird of purity; He will give glory and refreshment in the resurrection: refreshment is symbolized by the cloud; the glory of the rising bodies by the brightness of the cloud (Gloss from the Catena Aurea, printed in Toal).
That the holy Apostles fall on their faces shows their sanctity: because the holy are described as falling on their faces, the wicked as falling backwards (Remigius).
Now the chief purpose of this Transfiguration was to remove from the hearts of the disciples their fear of the cross. So, before their eyes, was unveiled the splendor of His hidden majesty, that the loneliness of His freely chosen suffering might not confound their faith. But nonetheless there was also thus set forth, by the providence of God, a sure and certain hope for holy Church, whereby the whole body of Christ should know with what great a change it is yet to be honored. For the members of that Body whose Head hath already been transfigured in light may promise themselves a share in His glory (St. Leo the Great).
Peter’s errors: He does not want Jesus to go up to Jerusalem (Origen); he wanted to stay in the glory of the Transfiguration (Remigius); he sought to place Moses and Elijah equal with God and His Son (Jerome); he sought to have Christ establish an earthly kingdom (Remigius).
Blessed Johann Gerhard’s Postilla
But of what matter is, then, the transfiguration? Does it constitute an essential change in Christ’s human nature? By no means, for it is this very nature that has been transfigured here and later will suffer death. The evangelist Luke explains that it was the appearance of Christ’s face that had changed. We must understand this as follows:
During His days in the flesh the Lord Christ could have let His divine majesty, radiance, and glory shine forth without interruption, just as He has it shine forth now at the right hand of God for the angels and the elect. However, for our salvation and deliverance He humbled Himself, walked in the form of a servant, and was found to be just like any another lowly human being. This was so that He could suffer and die on our behalf. Nonetheless, so that one may not suppose He did this out of duress, or His self-denial and humiliation represented the utter discarding of His divine glory, it pleased Him to let the rays of His heavenly glory break through for His disciples. Hence, what He could have done continually, He did here as a prefiguring and mirroring of what He will do in His state of exaltation (2:277).
Hymn Plan (LSB): 414, 413, 395, 417
|
|
