Saint Athanasius Lutheran Church

What if you got a sit-down with Jesus? Well Nicodemus got such a sit-down. Just Him and Jesus, one-on-one. And the point is clear: Jesus isn't going to tell Nicodemus what he wants to know, but what he needs to know. And the first step to do that is to teach Nicodemus that he can't do it -- something that no Pharisee would believe on his own. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus didn't get all his questions answered that night. In fact, he may have left with more than he came with! He didn't get what he wanted to know, but he did get what he needed to know.

Sin is not an end in itself for satan, it is a means to an end -- to your death. For that's what he wants. We heard of it in the first reading today, from Genesis, the account of the first sin. And this is why -- and how -- satan tempts you today. He can't make or force you to do anything. What he does is dangle things before you, things you think you want, things he promises will make your life better, and tempts you to jump -- away from God, away from His life, away from His gifts. Jump to your death. And we take the bait. So Jesus came. Into the wilderness into which we jumped. But there would be no jumping out of God's Word and promises for Jesus.

This is a side of you I haven't seen before. We say that sometimes. Well today, in His Transfiguration, Jesus shows Peter, James, and John a side of Him they haven't seen before. Or have they? Peter, James, and John got to see the glory of the Son of God that day. But it really was a side of Jesus that He had been showing them all along by the glorious things His glory did. But the point is clear: this is not how Jesus wants to be seen or known. Not yet. So on Wednesday we enter the season of Lent. The season of Jesus' glory and its culmination on the cross.

It's ugly, isn't it? The epiphany today, of your sin. When Jesus holds up the mirror of His Law, as He did today... it's not a pretty face looking back, is it? We're. Just. Sinners. I don't want to look at me anymore! Take it away, Jesus! Take it away! And He does! Not the Law. But your sin, your death, your failure. He came to take it all away. So we have hope. Because He did take it away. What we don't want to look at. Now the Law, but our sin. To give us life. All that you need, He will see to it, and He will give. Even if you can't see it, believe the Word of God which speaks it to you.

You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. That is your Christian vocation. This is how Jesus uses His Christians. This is not what you have to be, but who you are. His salt and His light. So Jesus sprinkles you where He needs you to preserve a rotting world. For that's what salt does. And so Jesus put you to be His light as well. So God is putting you in the darkness -- and maybe in some really deep, dark places! -- to light them up. Jesus hasn't forgotten you and He's not punishing you. Rather, He needs you there. To be His salt. To be His light.

When you're looking through some old photo albums -- or today, your Instagram feed -- and you come across some pictures that are out of place, out of order, you know they didn't happen in that sequence but for some reason, there they are... they stick out. The Holy Gospel we heard today is kind of that. But perhaps this is a good "sticking out" for us today. That instead of hearing this story as part of the Christmas story, we hear it as part of Jesus Epiphany story. Where really, I think it fits better. For it tells us of Jesus' epiphany to Simeon and Anna.

Most of the people we hear about in the readings today... we don't know who they are. They're nameless men. In the reading from Titus, of course we hear Titus' name, and Paul is writing to him, but we don't know much about this Titus. It's interesting, isn't it? And it teaches us something. That it's not about the preacher, it's about what is preached. Or at least, it should be. When it's not, when the preacher becomes the focus, that's when things go wrong. The pastor is just a mouth, and hands. A mouth and hands put here by God to preach. To speak, to give. That here, everything be about Christ.

God loves you. That's the message of this Sanctity of Life Sunday. It's really the same message as every other Sunday of the year. And yet, on this Sunday, it's a bit different, too. A little more important to say. And to say a bit louder and a bit more boldly. And if others despise us and abhor us for that -- for speaking up for life... well, we're in good company. So was Jesus. But He came for all and stayed for all, is for all and wants all. And so the message of the church on this Sanctity of Life Sunday, and every Sunday, is God loves you.

He looked just like them. Like all the other Tom, Dick, and Harrys going out to be baptized by this John in the Jordan. He walked like them, talked like them, and dressed like them. He was one of them. Like all of them. So they didn't take too much notice of Him. But then His turn came for the baptism. John... he seemed reluctant. Just another baptism.... until it wasn't. It seemed almost like heaven was reaching down to earth, right there, right then, on Him! Because it was. That's exactly what baptism is. The joining of heaven an earth. Heaven reaching down to earth.

Epiphany. Wise Men. The star. Gold, frankincense, and myrrh. You know the story. It's part of the Christmas story we all know so well. Doting shepherds and wealthy wise men gazing at the child. The thing about Epiphany, though, is that baby the shepherds and wise men are looking at -- that's God! God in the flesh. Hod here in the world. And for us today, it's not in seeing the pint-sized Jesus in the manger, but in seeing the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God on the cross and in the grave. That you be wise men, wise women, and wise children. By His Word.

God with us. That's how it was meant to be. But something had gone horribly wrong. His children no longer wanted Him there with them. And so God with us... that was no longer good news. Except it still was. They just didn't know it. God with us. There may not be a better phrase that sumes up Christmas than that. And so how it was meant to be, God has made it again. God is with us. In Adam there was a great change. In Jesus, an even greater one. This Christmas, think about that. God with us. God with you. Good news and great joy indeed!

Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? The Jewish leaders said no. You, Jesus, are not the one. The Romans said no. We have our own gods. But for twenty centuries now, the Church has answered yes! Jesus is the one. Jesus in the one who was, who is, and who is to come. And the Church has taken this message into the world. That is our joy this day. And so we lit the rose-colored candle on the Advent Wreath -- the joy candle. To remind us that the answer to John's question -- are you the coming one? is a resounding, yes!

This is the season of hopes, wishes, and dreams. Of getting something for Christmas that you would like very much. But one wish I hear more than any other -- and it usually comes from older folks -- is the wish that this year, this Christmas, will be like it used to be. Not so busy, not so filled with cares and concerns. Simpler. More joyful. Well a simpler, more joyful Christmas is what John the Baptist wants for you, too. And it's why he was sent. Not to treat the symptoms in our lives, but the problem in our hearts. And his prescription is this: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So, whaddya think? Just skip Christmas this year? Forget the whole thing. Call it off. The reality, or the possibility of it, is the reason, in fact, for this season of Advent which we begin today. This season, these four weeks before Christmas, aren't here to get us ready to celebrate Christmas, but to prepare us not to. To prepare us for if there is no Christmas this year, and for that possibility to fill us not with sadness, but with joy! Because when the King comes back, when Jesus comes back, it will be for us a day of unrivaled joy.

Today you will be with me in Paradise. Someday, those words will be spoken to you. When the one who spoke them to the criminal on the cross next to Him comes to speak them to you. Where will you be when He does? When will it be for you? How will it be for you? None of us knows. But those words will be just as true for you as they were for that criminal, and will deliver for you the same: eternal life. Death and the grave will not be your end. Life will. Life in a "today" that has no end.

The sun came up this morning. I can tell you're not impressed, or surprised! The sun comes up every morning, right? Whether you like it or not. And honestly, there are some mornings we like it and some mornings we don't. The sun comes up and a new day dawns... ready or not. But this is not a lecture about nature. The new day dawns when Jesus comes. First, when He comes as the sun of righteousness who arose from heaven and came down to be our Saviour. Second, when He comes as the sun of righteousness who could not be swallowed up by the darkness of death. Third, the sun of righteousness if going to rise, on the Last Day.

As a pastor, I often get questions about what heaven is going to be like. And the truth is, the Bible doesn't give us a lot of answers. But I think trying to teach us about our next life is a bit like trying to teach a baby in the womb what life in this world is going to be like for her. You'll be the same person you are, but your life will be completely different. And yes, better.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. Old people and young people. Professionals and blue collar workers. The rich and refugess. Murderers and martyrs. The prince and the pauper. What do they all have in common? Not much, you might say. But this: sin. And death. But we heard this too, today. Something else they all have in common. They are clothed in white robes. So they all have this in common too: they're saints. God's saints. Made saints by Him.

At the time of the Reformation, it was not unusual for scholars to adopt a Greek form of their name for themselves, or what we today would call a pen name. Luther did this. For the name he chose for himself was: Eleutherius -- the free one. Now, if you were to ask folks to summarize what the Reformation was all about in one word, you might get answers like sola, or indulgences. Non-Lutherans might say heretic, rebel, or schismatic. But it is Luther himself who tells us what that one word really is, what the Reformation was all about: freedom.

It's easy to lose heart, isn't it? Jesus knows that. He is a man in every way like us except without sin. We worry, we doubt, we wonder what God is doing or why it's taking Him so long... if He sees and knows and cares about me. This is how God is toward us. Then and still today. Good and faithful and righteous. And when the Son of Man comes, what we may not be able to see clearly now we will see clearly then. When we stand before God we will see how tenderly He has brought us through these dark times.