The Second Sunday after Michaelmas (Trinity 20) – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: 2 Kings 18:1-12
In Christ Jesus, who joined Himself to us by taking on our flesh, and who joins us to Him through Holy Baptism, so that all that is ours became His, and all that is His became ours, dear fellow redeemed:
The best way to teach people the value of marriage is to value your marriage. Valuing your marriage means treating your spouse with love and respect, being willing to forgive when you are wronged, and doing the hard work of communication when you’d rather just play the blame game. This has a powerful influence on children and others who witness what a healthy marriage looks like.
When the opposite happens, when spouses run each other down, refuse to forgive, stop communicating, and possibly even get divorced, this also has a powerful influence. You have probably heard the statistics that children of divorced parents are significantly more likely to get divorced themselves later in life. These patterns certainly can be broken, but it is more difficult to see the way forward to a healthy relationship for those who have witnessed the opposite.
The same goes for transmitting our faith. The degree that we value what we have received by the grace of God will be shown by the priority it has in our life. Do our children, our classmates, our co-workers, our neighbors hear us speak about the comfort and hope we have in Christ? Do we keep the Word in our homes through prayer and family devotions? Do we plan everything else in our schedule around the Divine Service, giving first place to God’s Word and Sacraments?
I think each of us would acknowledge that what Jesus has done has not always been first place in our lives. We have spoken and acted in ways that are not at all consistent with the Christian faith. We have made money, or popularity, or fun and games the most important thing. We have relegated our Christian faith to an hour or two each week, easily picked up and easily set aside again.
The way we approach the faith as adults has a huge influence on the way our children will approach it when they are adults. The more important it is to us, the more important it will be to them. We can carry a lot of guilt over this because we never do as much to encourage the faith in our families as we know we should. St. Paul expressed this struggle in Romans 7: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (v. 19).
Our comfort is knowing that Jesus forgives all our failures in the past and all our weaknesses in the present. Despite our faults, He still calls us each day to try again, try harder, and pray unceasingly for His help and strength. We also have the comfort of knowing that God loves our family members even more than we do, and He does not forget them. We might feel as though we have made a mess of everything in our homes, but God still works all things for good (Rom. 8:28).
Today’s reading gives us an example of the powerful grace of God. We are introduced to Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah. King Ahaz was anything but a good father. He was a spiritual man, but it was the wrong spirit. He did not worship the LORD, the true God. He worshipped the gods of the heathen nations around Judah. He set up images of the Baals, made sacrifices in the high places, and closed up the doors of the temple. He even followed the pagan practice of offering some of his sons as burnt offerings to try to appease the gods (1Chr. 28).
Because of the grievous sins of Ahaz, “the LORD humbled Judah…, for he had made Judah act sinfully and had been very unfaithful to the LORD” (28:19). When he died, he was not given an honorable burial with the previous kings of Judah since he had brought such trouble on the land and its people.
So then at age twenty-five, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz began to reign. He took a very different course than his father, possibly because of the influence of his mother who is named in today’s reading—Abi the daughter of Zechariah. Wherever the good influence came from, Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” by undoing all that his father had done wrong. “He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah.” Then he did something even more extreme: “he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it.”
That bronze serpent was some 700 years old at this time, and it was made by Moses himself! When initially the people looked up to it on a pole, trusting in the LORD’s promise, they were spared from the poisonous serpents that afflicted them (Num. 21:9). This was a significant piece of Israel’s history, but it had become an object of their worship, so Hezekiah destroyed it. Can you imagine destroying a significant artifact from the 1300s because it was leading people astray? How about a precious family heirloom, or another item of great value? If you think about the most important object you possess, would you destroy it out of devotion to the LORD?
Hezekiah made it clear that nothing would get in the way of the worship of the true God. Our reading says, “He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD.” The word translated, “held fast,” is the same word we find with the institution of marriage in Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”
This is how Hezekiah “held fast” to the LORD: like a man and his wife “hold fast” to each other. Hezekiah did what was right by the LORD; he avoided temptations to sin; he trusted the LORD and did not depart from following Him; he did the opposite of the Israelites to the north who were conquered by the Assyrians—he listened to and obeyed the LORD.
This is how each one of us should be toward God. We hold fast to Him by respecting, honoring, and trusting Him in all things. We avoid everything that could tempt us away from Him. We look for help, healing, and salvation nowhere else than from Him. We acknowledge that there is no lasting love, no happiness, no life apart from Him.
The picture of a marriage is exactly how St. Paul describes our connection to Christ. “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). This tells us that all that we were in our wickedness and weakness, Jesus has covered in His perfect righteousness.
Imagine a highly-regarded, virtuous, successful man choosing for his bride a lady with a bad reputation, no possessions, and no prospects for a productive future. That is what Jesus did by taking on our human flesh and offering up His perfect life in payment for all our sin. The righteous One gave Himself for us unrighteous ones, the holy One for the unholy. He took all our sins on Himself and gave us His perfect record of keeping God’s Law. He did this, so we might be as He is and live forever with Him in His heavenly kingdom.
Today’s Holy Gospel speaks about our invitation to the wedding feast of the King’s Son (Mat. 22:1-14). This is the invitation to believe in Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit and to receive His heavenly and eternal riches. But some respond to the invitation with disinterest—they think they have better things to do. Others react with violence and attack the servants who bring the invitation to them. Still others want to attend the feast on their own terms, wearing their own righteousness, which is a great insult to the merciful and gracious King.
But despite our sins, the invitation to join the wedding feast still comes to us. We sit down at this feast each time we hear the Word of our Lord and receive the rich food of His body and blood for the remission of our sins. His Word and Sacraments are how, like a good husband, our Savior Jesus serves us. He does not treat us as our sins against Him deserve.
Though we have often been unfaithful to Him and His Word and pursued other priorities to the detriment of our faith, our relationships, and our homes, He forgives every one of these sins. He has mercy on us in our weakness; He treats us with patience and love; He communicates clearly and regularly His commitment to us. He perfectly does His part to keep His marriage with the Church healthy and strong.
His willingness to serve and sacrifice is what makes us want to Hold Fast to the Lord. Like a faithful bride, we love Him, we submit to His authority, and we want to please Him by all that we think, say, and do. We seek no other Bridegroom, no other Savior. No one could ever love us so well and care for us as perfectly as He does.
This was Hezekiah’s confidence. “He trusted in the LORD” and “held fast” to Him, and the people of Judah were blessed by his faithfulness. When we do the same by the grace of God, our marriages, our homes, and our communities are likewise blessed. Then it is said of us as it was said of Hezekiah: “And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.”
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.
+ + +
(picture from “Healing the Blind Near Jericho” by a Netherlands artist in the 1470s)
St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 13:54-58
In Christ Jesus, whose coming was prophesied for thousands of years, but whose arrival still caught everyone by surprise, dear fellow redeemed:
Sometimes we wonder how our life would be different if we had chosen a different path. What if we had taken risks instead of playing it safe, or the other way around? What if we had followed the advice of this person instead of that person, turned right instead of left? Maybe we would have been more successful, more respected, more happy. Maybe we could have reached our full potential. Maybe we would feel today like we had really done something significant. Unsettling thoughts, and we’ve all had them at one point or another.
There is encouragement for us in the example of St. Joseph. Joseph was a descendant of the great King David, but it had been hundreds of years since a member of the family had occupied the throne. Joseph lived a ways north of the capital, up in the territory of Galilee in the town of Nazareth. We get a sense of the town when Philip told Nathanael about “Jesus of Nazareth,” and Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Joh. 1:46).
Today’s reading tells us that Joseph was a carpenter of some sort, working his trade in the community, working with his hands. He was neither wealthy nor well-known—not a person expected to make an impact on history. But God had other plans for him. He brought a faithful woman into his life—Mary—and they made plans to be married. They were “betrothed” to each other, which was a legally binding arrangement that came before the public marriage ceremony. Until the public ceremony, they stayed in separate homes and did not share a bed.
Then the shocker! Mary informed Joseph that she was pregnant. He obviously was not the father, and Mary’s story about a visit from an angel, and the Holy Spirit conceiving a holy Child in her womb, was difficult to accept. The evangelist Matthew writes that “Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly” (1:19). That tells you a lot about Joseph. Even in his heartbroken state, he did not want to make an example out of Mary or bring the Law down on her. He resolved to move on and go back to his work.
But before he took that step, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and verified Mary’s story. He referred to Joseph by his royal lineage, showing that God was laying out this path for Joseph. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (1:20-21). Joseph listened. He set aside his reason. He ignored any doubts. He trusted the Word of God. He married Mary, and when her Son was born, he called His name “Jesus,” which means, “the LORD is salvation” (1:25).
We hear only a little more about Joseph. He had Jesus circumcised at eight days old and then brought Him to the temple at forty days old to present Him there as the Law of God required (Luk. 2:21-22). He rushed Jesus and Mary to safety in Egypt when King Herod wanted the Child dead (Mat. 2:13-15). He moved the family back to Nazareth after some time had passed (Mat. 2:19-23). And each year after that, he brought his family to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover (Luk. 2:41). All of these things show Joseph’s character. He was a man of faith committed both to the Word of God and to his family.
Jesus learned from him, which is surprising to think about. The evangelist Luke writes that as a youth, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature” (Luk. 2:52). In His state of humiliation, Jesus did not make full use of His divine power. He was able to learn and mature. And Joseph was right there to model a life of faithful adherence to the Scriptures and faithful attendance at the synagogue each week—a good model for Christian fathers today. He also taught Jesus how to build with His hands—a carpenter just like him (Mar. 6:3).
What we learn in today’s Gospel reading is that the people of Nazareth couldn’t get past the image of little Jesus working with quiet Joseph. They had heard about the miracles Jesus had done in the surrounding territory, and now they were listening to Him teach with authority in the synagogue. But instead of seeing Him in a different light and opening their ears to Him, they closed their minds. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” they wondered. They thought about His humble parents and their simple way of life. “What makes Jesus think He can teach us? Does He think He’s something special?”
They were wrong, of course. But we’ve been wrong like that too, judging people by our perception of them instead of by what they actually are. This is especially tempting in small communities like ours. We can judge people by the way we thought about them in elementary school or junior high. Or we can put them in certain categories and tell ourselves that they are all the same as before, and they aren’t worth our time.
But God tells us to love our neighbors, no matter how far back our history with them goes, or what we have perceived them to be. There is always a chance that we have gotten them wrong. There is always a chance that they have grown just as we’d like to think we have. Clearly the people of Nazareth got Jesus wrong. They had gotten His parents wrong too. Joseph was not just a carpenter; he was the legal guardian of the Christ-Child, whose coming had been prophesied for thousands of years. And Mary was not just a mother; she was the bearer of the Son of God, who came to destroy the work of the devil by His innocent suffering and death.
Neither Mary nor Joseph had chosen this for themselves. God chose them for these things. Who would ever feel qualified to raise the Christ-Child? They must have felt like failures, and not only when they lost track of the twelve-year-old Jesus in Jerusalem. They knew that the best they could do was not good enough. But they still carried out their calling from God. They trusted that since He had chosen this for them, He would bless their efforts—imperfect though they were.
This is your encouragement as you carry out your callings from God. Looking back on your life, you may feel that your life has been one long string of bad choices, failures, and missed opportunities. But that isn’t how God sees it at all. He sees you as His dear child, washed clean by the blood of Jesus and covered in His righteousness. He sees your light of faith shining in your home, your workplace, and your community. He sees you surrounded by neighbors who need your love and service—a life full of purpose.
It is the devil who wants to discourage you and make you discontent. He wants you to question if you married the right the person, if you can really give your children what they need, if your job is right for you, or if anyone actually cares about you. He wants you to think that maybe everything would get better if you just walked away, if you just started over. Then you could do what you were meant to do. Then you could reach your full potential.
But while giving way to selfishness may feel like a sort of freedom, it will only drive you more deeply into sin and its darkness. You are not here to serve yourself. You are here to serve the Lord by serving the people He has placed in your life. Jesus told His disciples, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (Joh. 15:16). It is the Lord who has planned the good that you would do. He is the one who has set the course for your life.
You haven’t missed out on some higher purpose, some greater thing you were supposed to do, by being where you are today. The Lord has big plans for you and important work for you to do right where you are. You are no failure to Him. God sent His Son to prove the value of your life by giving His perfect life for yours. He cleansed you of your sin and sanctified your life for His work at your Baptism. And He invites you continuously to feast on Him, the Bread of Life—to receive again and again His forgiveness and to be strengthened for your callings by His grace.
Joseph and Mary needed this too. Even while they were raising and providing for Jesus, He was living a perfect life on their behalf. He was keeping the holy commands of God for them and all people, and He would keep these commands all the way to His death on the cross to pay for sin—for His parents’ sins and for yours. His cross is where you take your selfish behavior, your discontentment about your station in life, your thoughts about leaving it all behind. You confess these sins to your merciful Lord, and He declares you forgiven, washed clean by His holy blood.
He chose you for the work you do for the neighbors around you, starting with the neighbors in your own home. Like Joseph, you will not carry out these callings perfectly. But your worth, your success, and your salvation do not depend on how perfect you are. They depend on how perfect your Savior is, and the work He perfectly completed to save you.
What He has done frees you to give with generosity and serve with gladness. Because the work the Lord has given you to do for others is His work. And if it comes from Him, then it is a gift, a gift for which He deserves all the 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.
+ + +
(picture from “The Holy Family with a Little Bird” by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1650)