Monday, January 25, 2021

Transfiguration Sermon

 

Transfiguration – January 23rd and 24th, 2021 – Matthew 17

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” Thus far our text. Rise, and have no fear. What an odd thing to hear. Not an odd thing to hear from Jesus, but what an odd thing for us living today in the 21st Century to hear. And no, I'm not speaking to just the events of the last week, or of the last year, but pause for a moment and ponder how much of our lives have been encased, ensconced in fear. Our political parties live on fear – fear of what the other party might do. And there's been the fear of Terrorism that we've felt keenly since 9/11 – a terrifying “war on terror” - what a ridiculous sounding thing. But even before that – fears of what technology will do, fear of communism and nuclear holocaust, fear of a world war, fear of the great depression and drought. I think that's all of our lives – not too many of us were flapping it up in the roaring 20s. Almost a full century where, in spite of our progress and our growth in wealth and power, we've been surrounded by fear. When was the last time you could look at the news – on-line or the nightly news or opening up the daily paper back in the day – and there wasn't someone saying to you “you need to have this fear! You need to be afraid of this!” And some of those fears are real, and some were overblown – turns out egg yolks aren't in fact going to kill us all. It's hard to tell in the moment what is a true fear and what is over blown hype – and there's always more and more fear being poured upon us and pushed upon us and dumped upon us. The mantra of this world, of our day and age is this: be afraid. Thus life for sinners in a sinful world.

    Epiphany is the season where we focus on Jesus revealing that He is true God. Whether He's a lad in His Father's house, or there's the voice from heaven at His baptism, or water to wine, or if there's a later Easter plenty of other miracles – the high point, the apex of Epiphany is today, the Transfiguration. And there's a lot going on in this text that points to Jesus being True God, so much wonder and awesomeness, but my friends, don't miss the true high point, the true thing that just emphasizes that Jesus is True God above all others. Let's look for it.

And after six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. The beginning of the revelation starts here. We miss it, because we don't live in old fashioned paganism, but going up on a mountain was a key, a sign that something divine and wondrous was going to happen. Temples were always on mountains, not valleys. So hearing this, we'd expect something cool to happen. And He was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light. Well there you go – the Transfiguration – Jesus starts shining, glowing! Well surely there's the proof that He's true God. Well, it is a neat thing, and we often think of this as the highlight (yes, I did say highlight) of the Transfiguration – but things like this have happened before. Angels shine, Moses glows with the reflected glory of God after he comes down from Sinai – it's cool, it is Jesus' own Divinity and not a mere reflection shining, but there's more beyond this.


    And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with Him. This is even cooler! This is even more profound. Moses is there. Elijah, the greatest prophet is there. Basically two of the mount Rushmore folks from the Old Testament are suddenly there and they are talking to Jesus. You have Jesus speaking forth and dealing with eternity – you have the Word of God dealing with folks who wrote the Old Testament – this is a mighty, powerful revelation of who Jesus is, that He is indeed True God! And one might be excused for thinking that the story could end right here on this fantastic high note and swelling music and isn't this just so cool. But it doesn't.


    Peter chimes in.
And Peter said to Jesus, “LORD, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. Now, there's a logic to what Peter suggests. This is around the time of the festival of booths, where the children of Israel would camp out and remember the wandering the wilderness. Peter offers to get ready for this. And yet, it is one of the most idiotic, absurd things in all of the Scriptures. Imagine that you were suddenly at some profound event – let's say the announcing of the Declaration of Independence – and Jefferson is there reading it off to all of Philadelphia, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are crea...” “Oh, wait, excuse me TJ, do you want me to go get lunch on? Ham, would ham be good?” That is how absurd Peter's suggestion in. Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah – you would give your eye-teeth to hear that conversation – and Peter busts into the conversation and tries to make an excuse to break away and go somewhere else. Utterly absurd.

    Actually, it makes sense. Still absurd, but it makes sense. Peter is afraid. It's too much, it's too profound – it's too much for sinful Peter to see Jesus shine forth a bit of His glory, it's too much for Peter to see Moses and Elijah, it's too much to hear. So Peter does what sinful man always thinks to do – run away. But God has a sense of humor. The Father sees this playing out, and well Peter, since you saw fit to interrupt this conversation, allow Me an intrusion as well. He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” It ratchets up even higher. The Glory Cloud shows up – remember from two weeks ago in the Old Testament when the temple is dedicated and the Glory of the Lord descends upon the Holy of Holies and the priests can't get in to do their work? Well, congrats Peter, you are now inside that cloud – something Moses and Elijah couldn't bear to do in their earthly days. And then it gets even higher – the Father Himself speaks – Listen to Jesus. Up and up it goes, the revealing that Jesus is true God!


    And down, down, down go Peter, James, and John.
When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. They assume the position, and they expect to die. Duck and cover – you cold war kids know the drill. Under the desk, close your eyes, await the flash of light and the end. The fear, the terror, the reality of being a sinful, mortal human being, and condensed and compressed into one fantastic, terrifying point. And that's where the disciples are.

    And now, finally, finally we are ready to get to the high point of this text, the point where Jesus fully shows Himself to be True God. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. This, my friends, is the point, the apex of the Jesus revealing who He is. The shining, the saints of old, the glory – that's actually all secondary. All of that could in fact be terrifying and bad. But right here, this is the thing. Jesus touches them and says, “Rise, and have no fear.” This Jesus, this man who is also true God – He has come for you, for your good, to be God for you, for your benefit. He has come to rescue you and deliver you from the fear that swirls around in the world.

    Fear is the specialty of the world. It is its power, the leverage it wields to push and prod and drive us all over. And so often we are caught up in those fearful games. But you do not belong to the world, you do not belong to Satan and his terror, you do not belong to death. Because Christ Jesus has come to you, and He has attached His Word (Listen to Him!) to water, and He has touched you, claimed you as His own. You belong to the Triune God, not the world. You belong to He who is the Resurrection and the life, not to death. You are clothed in the robes of Christ's righteousness – and your sin is no more, for it has been obliterated upon the Cross. This is the truth, the reality of who you are. And yet, we are still in the world. And the world will keep on spinning fear at us. It has all our days till now, and it will for the rest of the days that God grants us here. What that fear will look like, how real and dangerous it will be – I don't know. But here is the thing, my friends. Even if that fear ends up becoming real and close and dangerous – even if it condenses down to a fine, dagger sharp point and closes in upon you, even when it drives you to close your eyes in death – so be it. Jesus Christ is True God, and He is True God for you. And do you know what this True God does? He touches His disciples, His friends, His loved ones, and He says to them Rise and have no fear. And it doesn't matter what the world throws at you – you will hear Jesus speak these words to you, and you will rise, and you will have no fear, and instead you will simply delight in all His gifts of the life of the world to come, along with Moses and Elijah and Peter and James and John and all the saints who have gone before us and all the saints who have yet to be baptized into our joyous throng. And for now, our lives as Christians, just practice and preparation, reminders of what is to come. You will hear it for Jesus, True God and True Man, has died and risen for you – Rise and Have no Fear. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Sermon for Epiphany 2

 In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    Here we are, in the middle of Epiphany, of the season that focuses on Christ revealing that He is indeed the True God. Our Gospel lessons will be moments where Jesus’ glory pops out, shines forth. And we see this today in our Gospel text. The Wedding at Cana. It is a familiar text. Jesus and His disciples go to a wedding at Cana – Mary tells Jesus that they are out of wine – Jesus then changes water to wine. We often think of this as Jesus’ first miracle. John, though, uses a different word. This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested His glory. He epiphanied Glory, He revealed it – and how – by a sign. That's a great word: sign. Think for a moment on what a sign is. A sign tells you something. A sign lets you know what is going on, where you are at. If you are trying to find a new store or business, you look for their sign. The sign lets you know who they are. The sign out in front of our church lets people know who we are – this is Trinity Lutheran Church. Signs inform. Signs teach. And that’s what Jesus is doing with this sign – the first of His signs. He is teaching us who He is. So let's look at this sign and see Jesus.

    On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. Remember, a Gospel is a book of the Church – it is something that Christians hear and read. The idea of just handing someone a book and saying “read this” isn’t what the Gospels were written for. You were told about Christ, and then you studied the Word to see more fully. So keep in mind, John expects believers to be reading this – people who have heard the Gospel, the story of Jesus before. On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee. What jumps out to you, O Christian? What phrase that has a lot of importance to us as Christians? Third day. What happens on the third day? Christ’s Resurrection. Christ’s glory is shown forth – He rises from the dead, the grave cannot hold Him. John is keeping that idea in front of us. But what happens on this third day? On the third day there was a wedding. Think on Jesus’ parables. How many times is a wedding used to describe the kingdom of heaven? Christ is called the Bridegroom quite often. So here we see Jesus, on the third day at a wedding – and he manifests His glory. It makes sense that Jesus is going to do something here; the stage is set.

    When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Now, at first glance, this seems strange. It seems like Jesus says He’s not going to do anything. My hour has not yet come. That’s not quite what Jesus is saying. Last week Mary wasn't ready for her Baby to be the Messiah, but now, Mary is eager. Mary wants her Son to get the show on the road. Mothers, I’m sure you’ve all been brimming over with excitement when your child is getting ready to do something neat – a basketball game, a concert, fawning over a kid before prom. Now imagine your kid was the Messiah. Alright Son, go make your momma proud! But what does Jesus say? My hour has not yet come. Mom, this here today isn’t the main point. What goes on here isn’t the highlight of what I do. This is simply a third day – not THE third day upon which I will rise. This is simply a wedding, not the great eternal wedding feast. That hour has not come yet – we aren’t to the life of the world to come yet. Do you see what this teaches us about Jesus ? His focus is not upon doing things which might impress people, His focus is not on winning renown. My hour has not yet come. Christ’s focus is upon the events of Good Friday and Easter – His eyes are turned towards the Cross. This is how you see and recognize that Jesus is God – His focus is always upon Salvation, upon showing love to us, upon doing His Father’s will of winning for men salvation. He is obedient to the Father, and He shows love. This is what we see when we see Christ.

    His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Now, there were six stone jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. And that's how the water becomes wine. There is no big production. There is no bold statement up front – I see you are out of wine – I can fix that, ha ha ha. There is no bragging, there is no boasting. There are no Technicolor fireworks announcing that a miracle is occurring. Simply Jesus having the servants do what He wishes. The Word goes forth, and water is changed into wine. It is that simple. Do you see what else we learn about Jesus here? He is quite understated. Our society is full of braggarts and big productions – I'm sick of ads for the Super Bowl halftime show already. That’s not how Jesus operates. Jesus doesn’t waste time trying to show how important or wonderful He is. Jesus doesn’t toot His own horn. Rather, He just sees what needs to be done, and He gets to it. He takes what is simple – in the case of our text – a few stone jars and some water, and uses it to accomplish His purposes.

    We see that same idea here in His Church. How does God come to us? How does God bring His salvation to us? With loud, thundering booms? With great big explosions and rock concert flare? No. Through His Word and sacraments. Think on this – there is nothing in the world that you or I will ever come across more amazing than forgiveness. There is nothing more life changing than forgiveness – for it changes us for eternity. And how does it come? Quite simply. Through the Word. That Word can be spoken. I forgive you all of your sins. Simple. Not very impressive. Yet life changing – because they are the Words Christ has told His servants in His Church to speak to His people. God works through Baptism. I Baptize you in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Simple. Again, not very impressive. Yet in the water of Baptism we are made children of God, heirs to eternal life – we are joined to Christ. God works through the Supper. Bread and wine are taken, and God speaks His Word and says, Take and eat, this is my Body. Take and drink, this is my Blood. God takes simple bread and wine and attaches His Word to it – and suddenly He gives us His own Body and Blood, gives us His life, His forgiveness, attaches us to Himself again. All of this, all of God’s Working is simple – understated. God isn’t interested in impressing us with flash and spectacle – He is interested in getting His forgiveness and life to you. And so, He chooses simple things – His Word, Baptism, the Supper – so that He can come to you often. So that He can come whenever you need Him. You don’t have to wait for a big to-do but rather you receive forgiveness daily and richly in His Church. This is how Jesus does things.

    When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew) the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” The good wine. Before Jesus intervenes, it was not good. Before Jesus comes, the wine was going to be poor or gone. They were down to the dregs. And then Jesus acts, and it is good. This makes perfect sense. When the Word went forth at Creation, it was Good. When Christ Jesus, the eternal Word of God comes forth and acts, what He does will of course be good.

    How do you know that Jesus is God? What is He about doing? Making things good. Restoring creation. Man had been made good, but man fell into sin. So Jesus comes, becomes Man Himself, and goes to the Cross and suffers and dies and rises again so that we would be forgiven, would be made righteous, would be declared once again by God to be Good. This is what Jesus does by His Word, this is what He is about. Restoring Creation. Making things right again. We were created to be with God, and this is what Jesus has accomplished for us. What Jesus does here at the wedding at Cana is a sign of what He always does – it shows us who He is – He is God almighty who restores creation by His Word. Yet this sign – this wedding feast at Cana, it isn’t the point. The wonder of Christ Jesus isn’t that He can change water into wine. No, as our Lord says, “My Hour is not yet come.” The true wonder of Christ we see and behold on Good Friday when He goes to the Cross, where He cries out it is finished, where He breathes His last and dies so that we would be forgiven. The true wonder of Christ we see and behold on the True third day, when He strides forth from the tomb alive, when we see that the grave could not hold Him and that He has indeed conquered death our foe.

    This true wonder, Christ’s death and resurrection, is what our Lord’s Church is about. Here in His House we are brought the benefits of that death and resurrection. We hear His Word of life. We are washed and united to His death and resurrection in Holy Baptism. We do not simply get to drink wine, but wine that is now His Blood which is shed for us for the remission of our sin. The sign we see today in our Gospel lets us know who Jesus is – that He is True God who comes to earth humbly out of love for us to win us salvation, and we here in His Church on earth delight in that salvation which He continues to bring to us humbly here until we shall see it face to face for all eternity at the true Wedding Feast of the Lamb. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World + Amen.

Monday, January 11, 2021

Weekly Meditation - Epiphany 1

 Greetings in the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World!

The Old Testament reading for the first Sunday after Epiphany was 1 Kings 8:6-13, and this morning I'd like to consider verses 10 and 11, which read: "And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD."

It would have been an utterly exciting day for the priests.  The temple was being finished, finally, after so long.  Everything was being transferred from the old, portable tabernacle to the Temple where everything would just stay and remain.  And the priests move the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies, and just as they get ready to do all their ceremonies... they can't.  The Glory of the LORD overshadows the place, and they can't be in there.  The LORD Himself nudges them to the side and He Himself tends to what needs to be done.

This is the same thing we see play out with salvation.  When our own works and our own attempts to make up for our sin fall flat (as of course they would), Jesus comes down from heaven and nudges all our efforts out of the way and He Himself does what is needed to win salvation and forgiveness.  He provides the sacrifice, the mercy, the righteousness, everything that is provided for salvation.

We live in a day and age of instantaneous pressure - that if you see something, you must react to it immediately, and not only must you react immediately, but everything hinges upon you having the right instant reaction.  This is our societies' sinful pride and arrogance popping up - and frankly it's driving us all a little bit batty and cruel.  It's not just that we make mountains out of molehills, now we think our opinion on this anthilll is the hinge upon which the world stands or falls.

No, that's not the way it works.  The way it works is this.  Jesus Christ, the Word by Whom all things were made, takes care of things.  He does.  And God gives you blessings and what you need daily for this body and life, and Jesus has won you eternal life and forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit pours this forgiveness and life out upon you in the Word and in the Sacraments.  Jesus takes care of what is vital - everything else is just gift to enjoy and to put to use in loving your neighbor.

You're not going to save the world this week; and you're not going to ruin it (and certainly not because of whether or not you like this post or forward it on to a dozen people, nice though that might be).  Sin makes a mess of the world, and Jesus has dealt with and continues to deal with your sin, even until the day you rise from the dead and sin is just one of those former things to be remembered no more.

This week, have a restful and confident week in Jesus!

Pastor Brown

Sunday, January 10, 2021

Back to the Future

 We were warned.  The Scriptures note that there will come times when love grows cold.  Isn't that an apt way of describing how our society is working today.

There are so many reasons not to love people - to vilify them.  To see how they are the enemy.  And some of these allegations are silly.  Some of them are unproven.  Some of them, even, may be true.

And the rage is stirred, and the lines are drawn, and you are expected to react how I react or you're my enemy too.

Well, thus is life in a sinful world, I suppose.  But we are of Christ.

We're supposed to love our enemies, right?

And what does that mean?  Bludgeon them until they agree with us?  No. 
Ignore them?  No.
Brush off what they do?  No.

We forgive.  We cry out "Father, forgive them" even as they act as our enemies.

Because that's who we are in Christ.  That is what Christ has done for you.  While you were yet a sinner, Christ died for you, calling out for your forgiveness.  Winning it and then having it spoken unto you and poured upon you.

Whatever the days look like, we are people formed by forgiveness who live in forgiveness.

Don't let the world distract you from that.