The Second Sunday in Advent – Vicar Cody Anderson sermon
Text: St. Luke 21:25-36
In Christ Jesus, who says this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away, dear fellow redeemed:
We are at that point in time where my wife says, this is the most wonderful time of the year! Just me saying that and you can already hear the music in your head. We do always look forward to the holiday seasons. We are planning what we are going to make for food, what we are going to buy for gifts. It is great to look ahead for the holidays. Since we gauge things in time, there are other things on the calendar we look ahead towards. We look ahead to birthdays, anniversaries, vacation and the list goes on. With ourselves trained to look ahead for certain dates that are ahead, Scripture reminds us that there is a more important date that is coming up. It is a date that we are supposed to look forward to, we are supposed to expect it, yet we tend to forget about it. As we get excited to remember and celebrate Christ’s first coming, we should not forget about what Christ says about his second coming.
Jesus speaks very clearly about what is going to happen. Jesus says, “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” If that sounds very serious, then look around, these signs are happening. What Jesus says is happening. His kingdom is coming. The earth is only our temporary home. It will pass away. Now we could look at what is happening in the world and we could freak out. It seems like a lot of people are doing that already. Or we can listen to what Jesus says when it comes to the end of the world and prepare for His coming.
As the end draws near, God calls us to repent. Paul writes, that [God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4) This happens with a contrite heart. We repent of our sins. Our sins are very serious and they have eternal consequences. The world doesn’t like that at all. Who likes to be told that they have done something wrong? For the world this is very despairing, so they try to stop and ignore the signs. They will try to save the dying world’s health. They will look for a worldly peace among the nations by treaties. They will try to control the climate. They will also see these signs and instead of prepare, they will be like in the days of Noah and act like nothing is happening. That Jesus second coming should just be ignored. Why should the world care about the signs that Jesus tells us when they can find something as great as their own self-worth. Now we see the outcome of the world rejecting the teachings of Christ. Jesus is telling us the truth, repent for the kingdom of God is coming, the world will end.
Unfortunately, Satan is crafty and he has a way of getting us to fall into the traps and worries of the world. Jesus tries to warn us. He says, “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” Due to our own stubbornness, we also fall into the traps ourselves. We see the problems of this life and we see how they affect us and we begin to worry. What will happen when the famine, pestilence, and wars hit close to home? So, we put our confidence in the powerful people of the world. Or we try to find help and comfort in worldly things that cannot save us. The temptations of the world will not go away quietly, the world shows us how noisy it is. It wants us to tune out the signs and the promises that Jesus has given us. It wants to distract us from what really matters and get us to focus on what is passing away.
It is so interesting that we look forward to so many dates and special occasions yet we lose focus on what Christ tells us. Talking about the end is coming directly from our Savior yet it is the hardest even for us to hear at times. We don’t like to hear when we are wrong. We don’t want to be corrected of our sins. If we stay in our sins, then we will be condemned with the rest of the world. Our hearts can harden, and if we die in unbelief or if we are without faith when Jesus returns, then we will join the devil and his demons in hell. The world is not prepared for Christ’s return, but we need to be. When we forget about repentance, then we have succumbed to the world and we end up not being vigilant. When we are weighed down by our own cares and anxieties, then we forget about the comfort in Jesus second coming.
As we get ready to celebrate and rejoice in the first coming of Christ, we also look forward to what is to come because Christ will come again in glory to take us to our heavenly home for all eternity! This terrible evil world will come to an end and we won’t have to stay in it. Because of Christ life and death on the cross, we don’t have to suffer the pains of hell. He will call us to our eternal home.
Advent is the season for looking ahead. We see how Christ came humbly into the world, yet we “will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” We needed him to come the first time because we needed a Savior from our sins. Jesus redeemed us from our sins of worrying. He takes away our sins that have distracted us from His coming. He gives us comfort that his Word will never pass away. This is the message of the Gospel, what Christ has done for us. When we fail and get worried about our future, Jesus gives us comfort that He has not left us and that He is coming soon.
Christians also look ahead to when Christ comes to us in the Means of Grace. This is Christ giving you the assurance that He is trustworthy. He is truth. Every week we hear the Word preached, the blessing of the Gospel of Christ in his Word. There is so much comfort in the Word of God. It tells you how Jesus redeemed you. You are a sinner who could not save yourself, and the Son of God took on flesh to sacrifice Himself for you. He died in your place, so that your sin and death would be overcome forever. He gives you these blessings of His redemption in the mysteries of Holy Communion. You look forward to this sacrament because here is the true body and blood of our Savior given to you for the forgiveness of your sins. This is the assurance that you have forgiveness of sins, life and salvation because of what Christ has done for you.
Verse 27 again says, “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” This is a glory that you will not have to fear. You can rest assured that when Christ comes on the last day you will rejoice in his return. There will be no pain or suffering. All of the trials and temptations of this world will be gone. Your tears will be gone. Your bodies will be glorified where Christ is the light of the world. This is the comfort that you have in His message. Jesus is telling you that believers will not have to worry. This is your eternal reward. Jesus’ kingdom will have no end.
Looking forward to Christ’s second coming, Jesus tells you how to prepare. “But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Here Jesus gives you the tools to be ready. You pray to him for the strength you need because you can’t stand on our own. Your strength to endure through this life comes from Christ, in what He did in his first coming. Living a perfect life, dying, rising from the dead, redeeming you.
Now our calendars can tend to be full at times and I know that everyone has been starting to fill in next year’s already. Christ keeps the real focus on him. That is where our focus needs to be. He wants us prepared for His second coming because we don’t know when it will come. When we get lost in time, we forget the date entirely. Christ keeps us sure of what is to come. Though life will get difficult, Christ is our comfort because of what he has done. Because of Jesus first coming, we can rejoice when the second coming is here. The world will try to distract us from Christ. It will try to convince us that His Words have no meaning. Jesus however says in verse 32, Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from Jerico Lutheran Church stained glass)
The First Sunday in Advent – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 21:1-9
In Christ Jesus, who “comes [to you] with gladness, / Moved by His love alone, / To calm your fear and sadness, / To Him they well are known” (ELH 94, v. 7), dear fellow redeemed:
My wife and I have been working our way through a book about Abraham Lincoln’s thirteen day train ride to Washington D. C., where he would take the oath of office. While Lincoln made his way there, the united states were coming apart at the seams. Some states in the south had already seceded and had elected a new president for themselves. The federal government was floundering. Credible intel suggested multiple assassination plots to keep Lincoln from ever getting to Washington. It was an anxious trip.
At every stop along the way on a carefully designed route through the northern states, Lincoln was met by large crowds of people wanting to catch a glimpse of this iconic man. Whenever he stepped off the train, they surged forward trying to get as close as they could and maybe even shake his hand. They hung on every word he spoke. As humble as his upbringing was and as down-to-earth as he conducted himself, they treated him like a celebrity—maybe even like a king.
If you had been there in that tumultuous time, and you met Lincoln at one of his train stops, what would you have done? What might you have said to him? To this point, Lincoln hadn’t done much more than talk. Was he really up for the task of leading a country that was on its way to civil war? Was he truly the man for this moment? There were many hopes, but also many questions.
The coming of Jesus to Jerusalem was met with just as much excitement and just as many questions. The people knew Jesus was special. They had seen Him perform many miracles, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead not far from Jerusalem. They also knew that the Jewish religious leaders despised Jesus and wanted Him silenced. No doubt the Roman authorities were aware of these things, and they were anxious to maintain the peace and avoid an uprising, especially now that the city was jammed full of people attending the annual Passover celebration.
If you had been in Jerusalem at the beginning of that festival week, and Jesus came riding down toward you from the Mount of Olives, what would you have done? What might you have said? We know what the Israelites did. They removed their outer garments and cut branches from nearby trees, and they laid them on the ground in front of Him. They wanted to create a soft carpet for Jesus’ arrival. They wanted Him to know He was most welcome.
But while the donkey’s hooves may have fallen quietly on the path, the crowd was anything but quiet. The people who went before Him and those who followed Him were shouting and singing the words of an old song, perhaps as much as 1,000 years old. “Hosanna!” they cried, which means, “Save us, we pray!” “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
They were shouting the words of Psalm 118, a messianic song of victory. They believed the coming of Jesus was the fulfillment of these words. They welcomed Him as a king, “the Son of David.” Just what sort of king He would be was not clear to them, but they almost certainly had nationalist notions in mind. Jesus could lead them into a new era of earthly glory and prosperity, free from the rule of outsiders, like the rule of the great king David!
But Jesus was not that sort of king. By the end of the week, He stood before Pilate and said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (Joh. 18:36). His kingdom was heavenly. He was looking to gain eternal souls, not earthly subjects. He would win them in a most surprising way. It would not be done by political deal-making, alliance building, or a superior show of strength. Jesus secured freedom for the captives by suffering. He brought them life by dying. He won everything for them by appearing to lose it all.
Jesus came to do what the people were crying out for, “Hosanna! Save us, we pray!” But it wasn’t salvation from corrupt religious leaders or pagan overlords. He saved them from their sin and death. It is rare and perhaps even impossible for an earthly leader to do something that benefits everyone. But what Jesus accomplished was for everyone. He suffered and died for everybody’s sins. He made no distinctions, played no favorites. Jesus was there on the cross for all sinners.
That means He was there for you. When Jesus received His crown of thorns and was pinned to that gruesome instrument of death, you didn’t exist. You wouldn’t exist for nearly 2,000 years! But God the Father saw the wrongs you would do and the good you would leave undone as clear as day. All sin was before Him, and He placed all of it on His holy Son. All your pride when things went your way, and all your impatience when things didn’t. All your bad decisions, your unfaithfulness, your brokenness. All of it was piled on Jesus, who suffered as though all of it was His doing, as though all of it was His sin.
Suppose you were employed somewhere, and you decided that you would do whatever you felt like doing. You broke the rules. You broke merchandise. You took whatever you wanted. When the losses couldn’t be ignored, the boss called everyone together. Now things were getting serious. How would you lie your way out of this one? But you didn’t have to. Even though the evidence strongly pointed to you, your innocent co-worker was accused instead. He was the one to be fired—not you. And he didn’t even open his mouth. He knew the truth, and he willingly took the punishment—took the punishment for you.
Knowing what your sin did to Jesus, knowing what He suffered in your place, what would you do if He met you here? What might you say? Part of you would want to try to justify yourself and pass the blame for your sins on to others. You were just a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Or maybe you would even have some criticisms of Him, that if He were a king more attuned to your daily needs and more aware of your troubles, you would not have struggled along like you had.
That would be no way to greet your King. But He would stand there patiently, looking right at you, a mixture of love and compassion and truth in His eyes. Then slowly He would lift His hands and turn them open to show two marks—marks from the nails. Those marks speak a message of perfect love, perfect sacrifice, perfect forgiveness, a message that can be boiled down to two words, “For you.”
Nothing more needs to be said. Nothing more needs to be done. Jesus died for you. He rose from the dead in victory for you. And He still lives for you. “I am with you always,” He says (Mat. 28:20). He does meet you here. He comes humbly, hidden in simple words, simple water, simple bread and wine. He comes through these lowly means to transfer all the wealth of His kingdom to you. He gives you His forgiveness, His righteousness, His life.
And when He comes in each Divine Service, you greet Him like the Israelites did outside Jerusalem. As the Israelites laid their garments at His feet, so you put off your old Adam in repentance and lay your sins before Him. That is how the Divine Service begins, with repentance. You tell the truth about yourself and put yourself at His mercy. And immediately you hear His words of absolution, the free forgiveness of all your sins.
As the Israelites also decorated the road with palm branches, so you sprinkle the path of your coming King with praises. You join the angels in their Christmas song, “Glory be to God in the highest. And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” And as the Israelites repeated what they had learned about Jesus in the Holy Scriptures, so you listen to the Scripture readings and sermon and confess the truth about your King in the Creeds, acknowledging Him as the fulfillment of all of God’s promises.
Then in the service of Holy Communion, you even take up the Israelites’ hosanna song. Just before Jesus joins His body and blood to the bread and wine, you sing, “Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.” Then you hear Jesus’ invitation, “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you…. Drink of it all of you; this cup is the New Testament in My blood, which is shed for you and for many, for the remission of sins.”
The entire Divine Service is a review of what Jesus did to save you and what He still does to keep you in His kingdom. Your King is not ashamed to count you among His followers. He is happy to meet you and dispense His riches to you. He does not ask anything from you except that you trust what He tells you. And even this faith comes to you as a gift from Him.
He is not a king who forces His subjects to be devoted to Him and praise Him. He doesn’t have to force us. When we see all that He has done for us, we cannot help but give Him thanks and praise and desire to live our life in His service. None of it is good enough for Him, and He accepts all of it with gladness.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “Entry of Christ into Jerusalem” by Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320)
The Fourth Sunday in Advent – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. John 1:19-28
In Christ Jesus, who still speaks through wilderness men today calling sinners to repentance and comforting them with the unchanging truth of His forgiveness and salvation, dear fellow redeemed:
The priests and Levites who came to question John were sent by the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn’t know what to make of John. He was a strict observer of God’s Law, but he hadn’t learned it from them. He wasn’t one of them. So who exactly was he? Was he the Christ? Was he Elijah come back from heaven (Mal. 4:5)? Was he the Prophet of whom Moses spoke (Deu. 18:15)? John said, “I am a voice—the voice of one crying out.”
The Pharisees knew the Scriptures. They knew John was referring to the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah wrote about a voice crying out this: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain” (40:3-4). John was the “voice” in this prophecy, and he knew it.
He called out in the Judean wilderness, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mat. 3:2). Many did repent. They came from all over the region to listen to John and to be baptized by him in the Jordan River (Mar. 1:5). Not many people can attract a crowd like this. Professional athletes, famous singers, and prominent politicians can attract a crowd. But how far would you go to listen to a preacher who gave you the Law in full force? It seems like that would be a great way to lose a crowd. Why did John’s preaching have the opposite effect?
The people recognized that John had no ulterior motives. He was not like the religious leaders who loved “the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others” (Mat. 23:6-7). John didn’t seem to care one bit what people thought about him. He did not need their approval or their support. He was content in his camel hair clothes and with his locust-and-wild-honey diet. And most of all, he was convinced of his purpose. His calling was to “prepare the way of the LORD.”
So his voice rang out, “Fear God! Love your neighbor! Get ready, for he who is mightier than I is coming” (Luk. 3:16). His Law preaching was not some kind of scare tactic. It was for readying a highway in the wilderness, preparing a path for the coming King. The Law does the same work among us today. It prepares us for the coming of our King in His Word and Sacraments and for His coming on the last day.
God’s Law identifies all the things in our lives that stand in the way of our Savior’s coming. We might think we’ve got everything pretty well in order. But the Law puts the spotlight on the valleys that need lifting, the mountains that need to be brought low, and the uneven ground and the rough places that need to be smoothed out.
The valleys are those times when we shifted our focus from the sure promises of God and lost our spiritual bearings. We listened to the devil’s lie that we are in charge of our own destiny; we can do whatever we want. But when we did what we wanted, we didn’t find purpose and joy and clear direction for our life. We found heartache, sadness, guilt. The things we recklessly indulged in did not satisfy—they left us feeling gutted, empty. When we enter the valley of self-indulgence, we try to fill the voids and the longings that only Jesus can fill.
The mountains and hills that need to be made low are our prideful behavior and our judgmental attitude toward those we see as less or as lower than ourselves. This mountainous pride is exhibited when we hold long-running grudges toward others, and when we refuse to forgive someone who hurt us. We store up all the little wrongs that are done to us, while at the same time ignoring our own sinful words and actions. When we climb up on the high hills of self-centeredness, we lose sight of the humble sacrifice of Jesus and His continued coming to bring us forgiveness.
The uneven ground and the rough places are all the obstacles that slow down our growth as Christians and threaten to derail our faith. This happens when we fail to prioritize God’s Word and Sacraments and place higher importance on work or entertainment or even family time. We let the devil deceive us into thinking that we’re doing just fine, that all our pursuits are pure, that we have little need for regular repentance. When we take a detour onto the bumpy road of self-reliance and self-righteousness, we put our confidence in our own will and strength and not in Jesus.
We need to hear the voice of God’s Law ringing out in the wilderness of this world. We need it to jar us, to wake us up from our sinful ways, to show us that our focus isn’t always—or even usually—in the right place. We need it to expose the valleys, mountains, and rough places that make us unprepared for Jesus’ coming. But the Law can’t fix what is broken. It only diagnoses the problem. The Law of God declares you a sinner. It shows you how far you have fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). It offers no hope.
But there is another Word from God echoing in the wilderness, a message of hope which John also preached. He did not preach the Law for its own sake, as though he were only concerned about the people’s outward behavior. He preached the Law, so they would recognize their sinfulness, and so they would eagerly look for a Savior. “That Savior is already here,” said John—“among you stands One you do not know, even He who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
John quickly made that unknown One known when he pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Joh. 1:29). “There is the Lamb!” he said, “There is the sacrifice! There is the One who will carry your sins to the cross and pay the penalty in full! There is ‘the Prophet’! There is the fulfillment of Isaiah, the eternal God incarnate! There is the Christ!” “I am not the Christ,” said John, “I cannot save you. Only Jesus, the Son of God, can save you.”
And Jesus has saved you. He willingly took on Himself all your transgressions against the Law. He accepted the heartache, sadness, and guilt for your sinful self-indulgence. He put your prideful, self-centered behavior on His own shoulders. He humbly suffered the consequences for your self-reliance and self-righteousness.
He came to do everything according to the holy Law that you could not—lift up the valleys, bring low the mountains, smooth out the uneven ground and rough places. To do this, He passed through a valley into Jerusalem, carried His cross on a rough path out of the city, and climbed up a mountain where He died for your sins. All that you have done in your sin, He atoned for by His blood.
This sounds too good to be true, just as John’s exciting message must have seemed like a dream to those who heard him. Could it really be that the Christ was coming after so many years of waiting? Could it really be that the Christ comes now, even into this heart of sin? It is true, the Christ came in all lowliness and humility. And He still comes among us today. He comes through His Word and Sacraments, personally, to each one of us. He knows our sins. He knows what hinders our receiving of His grace. And He comes to make a way in this spiritual wilderness. He comes to make a highway in this spiritual desert.
He comes to comfort you and me, to speak tenderly to us of forgiveness and life. He comes to assure us that our sin is not counted against us anymore. God’s anger does not burn against us. After His death and resurrection, Jesus did not go to prepare a place for us in hell, but to prepare a place for us in heaven. “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Joh. 3:17).
Jesus saved you. That doesn’t mean there are no more valleys, mountains, or rough places that need to be smoothed out in your life. Your life should consist of daily repentance, so you don’t grow comfortable in your sin. But even when you lose your struggle against sin, Jesus cheerfully comes with forgiveness. He has not given up on you and me. His Word of Truth Still Echoes in the Wilderness, and it still reaches our ears.
He continues to send out this message of hope to all who look to Him in repentance and faith: Comfort, comfort is yours in Christ Jesus. He has brought peace between you and God. Your warfare is ended. Your iniquity is pardoned. You have received from the LORD’s hand double for all your sins. The full inheritance of heaven is yours! (paraphrase of Isa. 40:1-2)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “The Preaching of St. John the Baptist” by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, c. 1565)
The Third Sunday in Advent – Vicar Anderson sermon
Text: St. Matthew 11:2-10
In Christ Jesus, who through His Word, reveals himself as the Savior, that by believing in Him you would have eternal salvation, dear fellow redeemed:
The John we hear about in our text is John the Baptizer. John was prophesied as the Lord’s messenger, sent before Jesus, to prepare the way for Him (Mal.3:1). This was promised hundreds of years before Christ and now the time had arrived for this promise to unfold. There had been many prophets throughout history, but John’s coming was prophesied in the Old Testament. The coming of the Messiah is important and God required a forerunner, one who would make way for His coming.
John had the honor of physically baptizing Jesus in the Jordan River. He saw and heard God the Father pronounce Jesus to be His Son (Matt. 3:15–17). John testified that he saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus as a dove and remain on Him (John 1:32). And when he saw Jesus approach him he proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
John knew who Jesus was and faithfully preached about the coming of the Savior. So why, then, does he ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?”
Did John need confirmation that his job of preparing for the coming of Christ was successful and now finished? Or did he ask for the benefit of his disciples? So they would be encouraged and assured that Jesus was the one they had prepared for and the one they should now follow. Although we can’t know the exact motivation behind John’s question, we can understand why he would ask it.
When referring to Christ at an earlier time, John declared to his followers “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). He was to come before Christ but then he was to step back and Jesus was to step forward. This courageous forerunner of Christ knew what his duty was. His job was to make sure people were ready for Jesus’ coming. His preaching showed people their sin and their need for Jesus. He wanted to turn sinful people away from their sin, toward the one who would take their sin away.
In doing this John ruffled some feathers. Some people didn’t want to acknowledge their sin, but John didn’t back down. He called the religious leaders and teachers a “brood of vipers,” or in other words, newly hatched snakes. Not a very pleasant thing to be compared to and it’s hard to believe they would have taken this insult well. John boldly preached the Word of God and was not afraid to call sin anything other than what it was…sin.
As a result of his preaching, John was thrown into prison and while there he sent his disciples to Jesus with a question. His time there must have been weighing on him and we can sympathize with what John was experiencing. It’s possible he had some trepidation about what would happen to him next, or maybe he felt he might never make it out of prison. John was never released from prison and ultimately beheaded at the order of King Herod.
Picture being in the crowd that day standing around Jesus when John’s disciples came. Imagine the thoughts you would be having; “Could this really be the Messiah, the one promised long ago? Was He your Savior or should you continue looking for another?” John’s disciples had been concerned that Jesus was rapidly gaining followers and they wanted to know the reason (John 3:26). They wanted to know who this man was.
Even today, we doubt if Jesus really is how the Bible describes Him because to us it doesn’t make sense. Could He be born without sin and never sin in His life? We find ourselves in situations that can cause us to question our Lord. Is Jesus with us now, even though we feel terribly lonely? Does He see that we are struggling? Where is He when we have difficult decisions to make? If He was our Savior wouldn’t we be able to feel Him near us, or inside us?
So, we too ask; is Jesus here or shall we look for another? Our fears and doubts cause us to look frantically for the answer! Maybe we turn to our family for help, or our closest friends, or we latch on to someone else who seems to have the right answers. We look for evidence of Jesus inside of ourselves, thinking that is where He shows Himself. Sin affects each one of these options, not a single one of them is a perfect answer. Instead we should turn to what Jesus said and revealed about Himself, because all other options will fail.
In His answer to John’s question, Jesus quoted the words of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Written 700 years before the Savior would come and words John certainly would have been familiar with. Jesus answers John’s disciples saying, “the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Matt 11:5–6).
Our Lord has the power and strength to do miraculous things. One time Jesus reached out His hand and touched a man with leprosy and He was immediately cleansed (Mark 1:40–45). At another time in His ministry Jesus healed ten lepers just by saying, “go and show yourselves to the priests” (Luke 17:11–19). Jesus restored the lifeless limbs of paralytics (Matt. 5:1–8) (John 5:1–9), and still another time, Jesus restored the lifeless body of His beloved friend Lazarus who had already been in the grave for four days (John 11:41–44).
Because of what Jesus was doing by His own power and authority, the blind were no longer stuck in darkness and the deaf no longer in silence. The good news of the forgiveness of sins was being preached to those in spiritual poverty, and those who believed in Jesus were blessed!
Jesus makes it clear that He is the one fulfilling what was promised in God’s Word. All those who are in need have no reason to look anywhere else because Jesus is meeting all of their needs. He rescues all who find themselves lost and in need of Him. Jesus does not offend a repentant sinner because, “the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost”(Luke 19:10).
The response Jesus gave to John’s disciples would have brought tremendous amounts of joy to all who heard His Words. To all who were waiting for His anticipated arrival it would have brought relief and comfort. The one John had said was coming has truly come and He is here to save us from our sins.
Then Jesus, in His all-knowing wisdom, goes on to affirm for everyone that John is who he claimed to be as well. He says, “What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is he of whom it is written,“ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you’” (Matthew 11:9–10).
With these Words, Jesus builds up John’s reputation and He builds up John’s disciples. In proving John’s credibility, Jesus also encourages everyone who believed the message John had been preaching.
John was not a reed tossed this way and that by the wind (Matt. 11:7). He was not weak or watered down in his preaching, in fact he was willing to say the truth even if it meant he would make enemies or even lose his life. He held fast to the truth of God’s Word and it was convicting people.
People were going out to see John in the wilderness and many were being baptized for the forgiveness of their sins. It wasn’t because John was telling the people what they wanted to hear or impressing them with his expensive clothes and charming personality; he was simply preaching the truth.
The proclamation of God’s Word brings sinners to their knees in repentance and lifts them up again with the assurance that their sins are forgiven. It does the same thing in our lives as well. We hear God’s Word preached in church and it draws us close to our Savior. Nothing other than the truth of the message should bring us to hear His Word. John, the messenger of Christ knew that the Gospel changes the sinner’s heart, and this can only happen by hearing the message (Romans 10:17).
This truth must be preached even if it means we are hated for it. The truth that all people are helplessly stuck in their sin and the only answer is Jesus Christ. His Word humbles us, turning us toward our Savior, making our poor and needy heart into one that is rich and satisfied.
In His Word we learn that regardless of the wicked things we have done, there is one far greater than us who took those things upon Himself, to destroy them once and for all. So that by believing in Him, the Son of God, we may have life in His name (John 20:31). We don’t need to look anywhere but to our Savior Jesus Christ who brings lasting comfort and relief to each one of us.
The afflictions we face in our lives are meant to drive us to His Word. Directly to the feet of Jesus, where all our worry and despair subside, to the foot of the cross where all our anxiousness, doubt, and fear were destroyed. Jesus is by your side through all the hardships you endure. He has come to assure you of His love for you His beloved child, to comfort you with the forgiveness of your sin and to put to rest all your worries and fears.
We can be certain that Jesus is exactly who He says He is. “The One who is to come” has arrived and He is with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20).
“All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
Whose advent set Thy people free:
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost, for evermore” (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, 106: 5).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture of Jesus healing a man with dropsy)
The Second Sunday in Advent – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Luke 21:25-36
In Christ Jesus, who is coming to put an end to all suffering and sorrow, who is coming with power and great glory, who is coming quickly, dear fellow redeemed:
Last week, we heard about Jesus’ humble entrance into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. He was welcomed as a king, but He didn’t exactly look the part. He was not wearing royal clothing, and He was not flanked by high-ranking officials or an impressive army. He came to Jerusalem as the sacrificial Lamb, the one who would die for the sins of the world.
But in today’s reading—which also took place during Holy Week—Jesus looks forward, beyond His death and resurrection, beyond His ascension, beyond the establishment of the New Testament Church. He described the end times, and what will happen prior to His return on the last day. He spoke about the signs which would show His people that His return was near.
We have just entered a season of signs, signs that tell us something important is going to happen. Lights have appeared on the homes in our neighborhood. Trees have been set up in living rooms. Decorations are getting hung. Cookies are being prepared. These are all signs that Christmas is coming. The closer it gets, the more our anticipation grows.
The signs of the end times are like this, though they are not pleasant like beautiful lights and delicious cookies are. A few verses before today’s reading, Jesus described some of these signs: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (21:10-11). These signs are major disruptions in the order of things, a huge upheaval. They will produce a general state of anxiety and distress as Jesus says: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.”
The unbelieving world does not know what to make of these signs. These troubling signs reveal the limits of human power. We can work for peace, but there will still be war. We can try to predict when and where earthquakes and floods will happen, but we can’t stop them. We can plant special varieties of seed that do better under certain conditions, but we can’t make the sun shine or the clouds drop rain. We can promote healthy habits, but we can’t stop sickness.
For all of our supposed advances in social support, medical care, and technology, it doesn’t seem as though problems and crisis situations are happening less and less in the world. In many ways, it seems that they are happening with greater frequency. This causes great distress and perplexity. We wring our hands and wonder, “What can we do? How can we stop these things? How can we ensure everyone’s safety? How can we make the world a better place?”
And that’s the whole problem. The people of the world believe they have the power to address any issue that arises. They are not looking to the God who created all things and still preserves them. They are not trusting that He will provide, that He will have mercy, that He will save. And because of their unbelief, they will continue to be anxious and perplexed. They will continue to be afraid. They will continue to make desperate and damaging decisions.
But we who are the dear children of God, baptized into His holy name, should not get caught up in this fear and desperation. Jesus tells us exactly how we should interpret the signs of the times. We should see them as evidence that He is coming again. When we hear about warring among the nations, we should think, “Jesus is coming.” When there are reports about earthquakes, floods, and wildfires—“Jesus is coming.” When there are pestilences, plagues, and pandemics—“Jesus is coming.” Such rumblings that shake our world show us that He is about to come on the clouds in glory.
If you were waiting for someone to stop by your house on a cross-country trip, but you didn’t know exactly when he would arrive, you would appreciate regular reports about his progress. “I just got to this city, and this town; I spent a couple days here.” That is what the signs of the times impress upon us. The plan for Jesus’ return is in place. As surely as a budding branch tells you that summer is on the way, the signs in the heavens and on the earth tell you that Jesus is on the way.
But maybe you’re not convinced. Maybe you don’t think we can be so certain in our interpretation of these major events. We call them “natural disasters”—doesn’t that mean they happen on their own? Maybe they are just coincidences, chance occurrences in an unpredictable climate. Or maybe they can be explained by human factors, like the effect of pollution on the ozone layer.
Whatever people want to point to as the cause of these things, Jesus says they are signs from God. God wants us to learn from these signs. He wants them to make us more alert, more watchful. There is an immediacy about these things. Just because Jesus has not returned in glory yet does not mean He won’t come soon. “But watch yourselves,” says Jesus, “lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.”
“Dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life” is the focus on worldly living, the pursuit of pleasures, spending our money, time, and effort on things that have no godly purpose, things that are self-serving. If we live like the unbelievers, the loss of our faith is not far away. Then like the rest of the world we will have only perplexity and fear when we see everything falling apart around us.
God did not make us for such futility and hopelessness. He made us so that we could know His love and love Him. He made us so that we could honor Him by serving our neighbor. He made us so that we could be with Him in heaven forever. To accomplish this, God the Father sent His only-begotten Son into this perplexed and fearful world. His coming was hardly noticed. Our Lord came in total humility in order to redeem us lost and condemned sinners. He came to offer Himself for all our sin, all our doubts, all our fear.
When He died, “the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised” (Mat. 27:51-52). It was a sign that Jesus had gone to meet death—and death was shaking. There was nothing death could do to the Lord of life. Death could not prevail. Jesus rose from the dead in victory.
That victory is yours. No matter what happens to you in this world, no matter what disaster or crisis you must face, you are safe in Jesus. You are baptized into Him. In Him, your sins are forgiven. In Him, you have peace with God. In Him, eternal life and happiness are stored up for you in heaven.
He meets you even now, down here in this world of tribulation. He meets you in His Word and Sacraments. He comes to comfort you and keep your faith alive. He comes to keep you watchful and increase your expectation of the wonderful things to come. Your best life is not now, and it is not ahead of you on earth. Your best life is coming when Jesus comes again.
That time is rapidly approaching. You can expect the signs before His coming to increase and intensify. You can expect the world to become more and more perplexed. You can expect people to look for answers in all the wrong places. And most of all, you can expect Jesus to make good on His promise. The devil wants you to think that the troubles in the world are evidence that Jesus does not care or that He is unable to help. Jesus says these troubles are evidence that His Word is true.
If Jesus said that things would get better and better on earth before His return, we would have reason to doubt what He said. But He said that things would get worse and worse, which is exactly what we are seeing. These things are all evidence that His return is imminent. Jesus does not lie. He won the victory over sin, death, and devil, just as He promised. And He will come again with great glory on the last day, just as He promises.
He will come very differently than His coming into the world and His coming into Jerusalem. He will come in brilliant light, with all power and authority. All the monuments and machinery of the devil will topple over. The superpowers of the world will crumble in an instant. The rich and famous of the world will try to run and hide. You and I will “straighten up and raise [our] heads, because [our] redemption is drawing near.”
That will be a great, great day. The more anxious and fearful the world becomes about things it cannot control, the more we look for Jesus’ return. The Greater the Perplexity around us, the Greater the Expectancy of His coming. We wait for Him, not with our eyes toward the sky, but with our eyes on His Word. That’s how He prepares us for that day. That’s how He strengthens us, so that we are ready to stand before His throne in confidence. By His grace, we will leave the troubles of this world behind and enter with Him into glory.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem” by David Roberts, 1850)
The First Sunday in Advent – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 21:1-9
In Christ Jesus, who comes to you today bringing His peace and comfort, meeting you in whatever sorrow, pain, or struggle you are experiencing, dear fellow redeemed:
In today’s text, which we hear both at the beginning of the Church Year and at the beginning of Holy Week, we see Jesus with a definite plan. He is full of purpose. He knows just how He wants everything to play out. “Go into that village. Find a donkey and a colt. Untie and bring them. Tell anyone, ‘The Lord needs them.’” Jesus is giving orders. He is acting like a king. He is a king.
But these directions of Jesus were about more than the moment. He gave these directions in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. Nearly 500 years before this, Zechariah had prophesied about a king coming to Jerusalem on a donkey. How do we know that Jesus was this king? Anyone could have ridden to Jerusalem on a donkey, and other kings like David and Solomon had used mules before this for royal purposes (1Ki. 1:33).
What made Jesus unique was that He came speaking about a different kind of kingdom. He had not come to overthrow the Romans and set up an earthly throne. He had come to establish an eternal kingdom. This is what the prophet Zechariah described. He wrote by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (9:9).
This king would be “righteous and having salvation.” Many kings, rulers, and presidents are viewed that way when they first come to power. They are viewed as ones who will right the wrongs of the past, who will lead the people into a new era of peace and prosperity. But it often isn’t long before we see gaps in their armor. They aren’t as righteous as we thought. They aren’t really capable of delivering on all the promises they made.
The king who comes to Jerusalem does not come with empty promises. He comes to make good on His promises. He comes to make good on all of God’s promises given since the beginning of time. He comes to bring salvation. The salvation He brings is not salvation from inflation, from high gas prices and high food costs. It is not salvation from community conflict or partisan politics. He comes to bring salvation from sin, salvation from death, salvation from the devil and all the powers of darkness.
Jesus faced these enemies all by Himself. He was not a selfish king, worried only about protecting His own comfortable way of life. He was not a ruthless king, ordering His people to march out against an overwhelming force. He was a Savior King, one who comes to give, to sacrifice Himself for the good of the people, to die so that they would live.
His humble approach to His kingship is hard to understand. How can a king conquer by suffering? How can He win by appearing to lose? How can He reign without a physical fortress? The world views Jesus as a nice guy, as a friendly person. But the world does not view Him as a king. In fact, the world laughs at this idea.
We have our doubts too. It’s hard to believe that Jesus “is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty” (Apostles’ Creed). It’s hard to believe what Jesus says, that “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mat. 28:18). If He is reigning over all things, why doesn’t He destroy the wicked plans of wicked people? Why does He let harm come to His own people who trust in Him? Why doesn’t His Church make a greater impact in the world?
These doubts lead to questions about His kingly rule in our lives as well. If He really does reign on high, where is He when I am distressed, mistreated, in pain, struggling, tempted? It is easy for us to list the things we think Jesus should be doing differently right now. What we are really thinking is, “This is what I would be doing if I were king.”
If you or I were king, it is true that we would not be doing what Jesus did. If we had the powers He had, we would not ride meekly into Jerusalem. We would not bow to any mob in the Garden of Gethsemane. We would not let Pilate’s men scourge and mock us. And we certainly wouldn’t submit to the cross and nails. We would lead a righteous cleansing of all the positions of power filled with schemers, deceivers, and murderers. We would establish a kingdom of justice and good.
Wherever that has been tried—and it has been tried over and over again—it is not righteousness that reigns, but selfishness. Peace does not rule the day, but violence. We do not know better than Jesus what His kingdom needs. We could never rule better than He does. He came meekly and humbly to Jerusalem because the world didn’t need another dictator—no matter how well-intentioned. The world needed a Savior.
That’s what you need too. You don’t need a carefree, trouble-free, pain-free life. That may be what you want, but it isn’t what you need. What you need is forgiveness for your sins, which is yours because Jesus offered up His holy life in your place on the cross. What you need is victory over death and the devil, which is yours because Jesus did not stay in the grave but rose to life in triumph.
You can live with pain; you can live with anguish; you can live with sorrow. But you can’t live without Jesus. He brings comfort; He brings help; He brings joy. How does He bring these things? He brings them through His Word of peace. After Zechariah describes a king coming with righteousness and salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey, he writes that the king “shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth” (9:10).
The King will use His power and authority for peace. He “shall speak peace to the nations.” When Jesus rode into Jerusalem, the Jewish religious leaders prepared for war; the Roman soldiers prepared for war. Jesus came to make peace—peace by the blood of His cross, peace between God and mankind.
The peace that He won at the end of Holy Week, He still distributes now through His Word and Sacraments. These are the marching orders our Savior King has given His Church. “Go!” He says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mat. 28:19-20). “Do!” He says, “Take, eat; drink of it, all of you. Do this, in remembrance of Me.”
Jesus has a definite plan. He is full of purpose. He wants you to know that your sins are forgiven. He wants you to know that the devil’s grounds for accusation have been eliminated. He wants you to know that your death is effectively dead and buried. To assure you of these things, Your Savior King Comes to You. We can’t understand how He could enter so humbly into Jerusalem. And we certainly can’t understand how He so willingly and humbly enters our lives and our hearts.
This King—Our King—who reigns at the right hand of God, cares about each one of us. He comes to serve each one of us. Our sins do not cause Him to turn back. Our doubts do not cause Him to second-guess His mission. Our ingratitude does not cause Him to stop loving us. He comes definitely, constantly, relentlessly through His powerful Word of peace.
He does not have an earthly fortress with high walls and formidable defenses. The outposts of His kingdom, the places of His presence, look a lot like He does. The churches where His Word is purely preached and His Sacraments are rightly administered are meek and humble places. They are often characterized by suffering and defeat. The world laughs at them and expects them to be easily overcome.
But the all-powerful King of the universe is here. His throne is on the altar. His decrees go forth from the pulpit. His kingdom forcefully advances from the font. The devil knows what the world does not. Nothing threatens his dark kingdom more than Jesus’ Word and Sacraments. This church is on the front lines. So is your home, where you and your family gather around the Word. But as formidable as the devil is, he is nothing compared to your Savior King. The devil has already lost; his kingdom will not prevail.
Jesus prevails. He comes to you. He comes to save.
No care nor effort either
Is needed day or night,
How ye may draw Him hither
In your own strength and might.
He comes, He comes with gladness,
Moved by His love alone,
To calm your fear and sadness,
To Him they well are known.
Why should the wicked move you?
Heed not their craft and spite!
Your Savior who doth love you
Will scatter all their might.
He comes, a King most glorious,
And all His earthly foes
In vain His course victorious
Endeavor to oppose.
He comes to judge the nations,
A terror to His foes,
A Light of consolations
And blessed Hope to those
Who love the Lord’s appearing.
O glorious Sun, now come,
Send forth Thy beams so cheering,
And guide us safely home! Amen.
(Paul Gerhardt, ELH #94, vv. 7,9,10)
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “Entry of Christ into Jerusalem” by Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320)